NEWS that the Ministry of Defence has refused to fund a study into the possible health risks of radar emissions from RAF Fylingdales has been met with anger in Ryedale.

The study was requested by the North York Moors National Park Authority last summer, before it gave the MoD an approval of the upgrade of radar operations at the early warning station.

But the MoD now says that it is the role of the Department for Health and the Strategic Health Authority, not the MoD, to fund this type of investigation.

Scarborough Whitby Ryedale Primary Care Trust carried out a short-term assessment in June and found no links between radar emissions from the base and cancer levels.

However, Ryedale district councillor John Clark believes this study was flawed. The Cropton ward, in close proximity to the base, was not included in the study, he said, while the Derwent ward, which is much farther south, was.

Coun Clark said: "If the MoD based their decision on these statistics then the whole process is quite obviously flawed."

Fylingdales Action Group campaigner Jackie Fearnley is insistent that an independent study is needed.

She said: "We have considered trying to raise the money ourselves but it would take so long to do. If our Government is saying it's not going to pay for the research, I think the most appropriate body to fund it would be the American government, because it's something they want, and we Ryedale residents are the ones who are effected."

Coun Clark suggested to the council in December that it should demand a full inquiry into the RAF base, its purpose and the consequences faced by Ryedale in accommodating it. The council, however, voted against the move.

"This failed to send out a strong message to Westminster," said Coun Clark.

"I will continue to support calls for this health inquiry and I intend to call once again for a wider investigation at the nearest opportunity."

A spokesperson for the Strategic Health Authority said an independent study was not within its role and it had no plans to fund one.

There is also a call for the United States Air Force to fund a study into whether radiation from RAF Fylingdales causes cancer.

Campaigner Jackie Fearnley of Fylingdales Action Network (FAN), who lives in nearby Goathland, said: "I think that the US themselves should fund the study. The relationship is that this is something for their use but we are the ones having to live with it. The more I think about it either the US Government or the US Air Force should be paying for a study so that (Ryedale people) know that our health is being taken care of."

In the USA, final results are expected soon from an air force-funded investigation by a biological research firm to determine whether a similar base PAVE PAWS, in Cape Cod, Massachusetts is dangerous to local residents.

PAVE is a program name for electronic systems used by the air force, while PAWS stands for Phased Array Warning System the same kind of radar as that in use at RAF Fylingdales as part of the United States' missile defence programme.

Mrs Fearnley said the results from the study at Cape Cod could help people living inside the beam of the North York Moors base. By comparing maps of disease rates across Cape Cod with measurements of the radar beam, the International Epidemiology Institute will try to gauge whether there is any correlation.

"It's a good place to start from. It's a priority to get independent measurements made on emissions in a variety of places around the base. We can compare the emissions and gradually people will get to know about the effects of this type of radar," said Mrs Fearnley.

Updated: 10:52 Wednesday, January 07, 2004