THE Government may be pressed to fund a study into whether RAF Fylingdales has caused diseases to people living nearby.

It could also be asked to monitor radio frequencies in the area, following the proposed inclusion of the base in America's Son Of Star Wars project.

North York Moors National Park Authority is being urged to press for the moves by officers, following concerns about possible health risks from the early warning station on the moors.

Such worries were heightened by reports earlier this year about raised levels of certain cancers near the early warning station at Cape Cod in America, even though some experts have dismissed such fears.

A report to next Monday's authority meeting in Helmsley says that the Primary Care Trust serving the Fylingdales area has not had any concerns expressed to it by local doctors or clinicians.

"It would nevertheless seem to be a wise precaution to establish a rigorous system to ensure no unexpected patterns of illness have developed, or do so," said the officers' report.

It says a long-term epidemiological study should be set up in the area around Fylingdales to establish if there are any clusters of diseases which might be attributable to the radar's presence.

Officers say the "radio frequency environment" should be monitored by independent consultants following the upgrade of the base, with particular attention to heavily visited and inhabited areas, with the results made public.

They also say the Government should pay close attention to research undertaken over health issues near Cape Cod.

The report says all such works should be funded centrally, as the existence of Fylingdales is justified on the basis of exceptional national need.

It also says the Government should reiterate its commitment to the removal of the base when it is no longer required for its present purpose.

It says firm assurances should be given that the station's role will not be expanded beyond its present functions and those involved in the upgrade... "in particular that X-band radar and missiles will not be based there."

The officers also recommend that light emissions from the base, which have risen over the past 20 years, should be cut by 75 per cent.

Fylingdales Action Group campaigner Jackie Fearnley today welcomed the officers' recommendations, saying she hoped both the authority and the Government would back them.

"It's very good news," she said. "It's also right that the MoD should pay for it."

Updated: 11:34 Wednesday, September 24, 2003