RAF Lyneham is no longer the operational station it was and Brize Norton now becomes the recipient of the bodies of our countrymen and countrywomen who have fallen fighting in a war in Afghanistan.

The people of Wootton Basset paid tribute to these fallen warriors and it now falls upon us, the people of Oxfordshire, to take up the mantle.

Please, British Government and elected local council members, stop warbling on about traffic inconvenience and such matters.

Bring the fallen back into the country they have fought and fallen for via the front gate of RAF Brize Norton, not through the back entrance.

Arguments about the possible effect on the morale of troops waiting to be shipped out to the war don’t really sound very convincing.

Nothing can surmount the grief felt by the families of the fallen, but they can at least take comfort in a show of support by us all.

If the mandarins of Whitehall want to help the morale of the troops then stop giving P45s to the military.

Save those for those bankers who helped get the country into the financial state it is in.

I wouldn’t want to be dodging bullets and IEDs while at the same time worrying whether I will be able to get a job to support my family or whether there is a P45 waiting for me when I return from action.

CHRIS PAYNE Turnpike Road Bicester