Dozens of portacabins set to house up to 2,000 asylum seekers have been erected at an ex-RAF base which was once home to the famous Dambusters squadron.<br /><br />The white, portable buildings have this week been moved onto a former runway at RAF Scampton, Lincs.<br /><br />Photos taken today (February 1) show a large number of white cabins on the main runway while a smaller number sit further away.<br /><br />A yellow construction digger is parked close to the biggest cluster of the portable buildings alongside skips and piles of building material.<br /><br />RAF Scampton, former home of the WWII Dambusters and more recently the Red Arrows, was built in 1916 and closed on March 31 last year.<br /><br />The portacabins due to house the male asylum seekers now sit on the runway despite a fierce local protest campaign.<br /><br />West Lindsey District Council is appealing to the High Court over the ruling that up to 2,000 asylum seekers can be housed on site.<br /><br />Council leader Trevor Young previously said: "Our position has always been clear that this site is not suitable."<br /><br />The mess hall building at the former RAF Scampton was designated Grade II listed following an application by the council in March 2023.<br /><br />The Home Office has said "heritage assets" at the site would be safeguarded.<br /><br />Last year plans to relocate the grave of a dog which was a mascot to the Dambusters have been refused by councillors.<br /><br />The 617 Squadron's mascot, a black Labrador, belonged to commanding officer Guy Gibson and died on the day of the raid on German dams in 1943.<br /><br />The RAF applied for planning permission to move the grave.<br /><br />But councillors rejected the proposal.
