TONY Blair has dropped his strongest hint yet that RAF Lyneham will survive the shake-up that threatens its future.

The Prime Minister told MPs he expected the base to play a very important role in any future wars following its crucial use during the Iraqi conflict.

The comments, made in the House of Commons, immediately raised hopes that the Ministry of Defence will decide to keep RAF Lyneham open.

The Government announced in November 2001 that it was reviewing the future of RAF Lyneham as it decided whether or not the next generation of Hercules transport planes would be based at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

That would end RAF Lyneham's 36-year association with the Hercules and lead to it either being sold off or used on a smaller scale.

The MoD's decision was due earlier this year, but was delayed after defence chiefs said they needed to examine the lessons learned from the Iraq war.

Since then, military personnel and equipment have been flown in and out of the Gulf by Hercules planes from Lyneham.

During Prime Minister's question time, Tory MP James Gray challenged Mr Blair to agree that Britain's military success depended on the base's survival.

Mr Blair replied: "May I express my gratitude to his constituents and all those who work at RAF Lyneham, and also to the families of those servicemen and women.

"I do accept and understand the very important role that it has played in previous conflicts and, I have no doubt at all, in future conflicts too."

Mr Gray, MP for North Wiltshire, said he took "quiet encouragement" from the Prime Minister's words, although he pointed out that no final decision had been announced.

He said: "The Prime Minister has given a hint that there is a useful future for the base and, having visited it recently, I imagine he has been briefed on the subject. Following the role that RAF Lyneham has played during the Iraq war, it is very difficult to see how the RAF can do without it."

More than 2,000 civilian and military personnel are employed at the base, with more than 10,000 jobs in Wiltshire estimated to depend on its survival.

Last year, Mr Gray revealed that the £12 million to be saved by axing Lyneham would be almost wiped out by the cost of moving people and equipment.

And a second option, turning Lyneham into a commercial airfield, had been ruled out as completely unviable.

RAF Lyneham opened as an airbase in 1940 and since then has been a key centre for forces personnel and equipment transport.

It is home to the RAF's entire Hercules fleet of 54 aircraft comprising five squadrons.

Recent actions the airbase has been involved in, as well as the war in Iraq, include Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Bosnia.