DEFENCE Minister John Reid is to meet a deputation from York over fears that a regional army HQ could pull out of the city.

The Evening Press reported in later editions yesterday how a defence review might result in the closure of 2nd Division's headquarters at Imphal Barracks, with the loss of more than 200 jobs.

York MP Hugh Bayley says the review is looking at reducing the number of regional headquarters from six to three.

And one of the options under consideration is to merge the 2nd Division with the Edinburgh-based Scottish division, with the new division to be based in the Scottish capital. Mr Bayley challenged Defence Minister John Spellar in the Commons yesterday about the implications of the review for York, and was told that Armed Forces Minister John Reid would meet with a delegation from the city to discuss the issues.

The MP said closure of the 2nd Division would not only have serious employment implications for York: it would also make no sense from a military and historical perspective.

He said there were more than 28,000 full and part-time troops in the 2nd division territory, which stretches from the Scottish borders to Northants, compared with only 9,600 in the Scottish division.

York had been a garrison for two millennia and the region also included Catterick, the biggest garrison in Europe. Furthermore, Yorkshire and the north-east was a key recruiting area for the army.

It would be wrong for the region's administrative HQ to be based so far away from where the soldiers were both recruited and based.

Mr Bayley added that he was told in the Commons that the review of regional HQs would form part of the nation's overall Strategic Defence Review.

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