MORE than 11,000 people have now signed a petition against the closure of RAF Lyneham.

The petition will be presented to the Speaker of the House of Commons Michael Martin by North Wiltshire MP James Gray later this month.

Mr Gray said he was delighted with the response to the campaign to save the airbase.

"There has been an awful lot of support and we still have more signatures coming in," said Mr Gray.

The Ministry of Defence announced in November that it was reviewing the future of RAF Lyneham as it identified the most suitable base for the A400M aircraft, which will work with the C-130J Hercules to form the RAF's air transport fleet.

Mr Gray said the campaign has come as far as it can.

"We've had the debate, the petitions, the public questions, and spoken to the Defence Minister, and I can't think of many more things we can do," said Mr Gray.

To show his support, the MP sported an RAF Lyneham tie during questions on defence at the House of Commons on Monday.

"People on our side noticed it and commented on how good it was to support the base, but I'm not sure the other side appreciated it," he added.

Mr Gray said that he does not want it to run out of steam: "People are still being very, very supportive," he added.

"We've got our message across to the Government and now have to hope that they listen."

He said David Cameron, the Oxfordshire MP representing the Brize Norton area, has also joined the campaign.

"His campaign has been much less active than ours but he has spoken out quite strongly against the closure of Lyneham," said Mr Gray.

Sam Wright, a retired squadron leader who served at Lyneham, and a member of the Save Lyneham group, said it is now a case of waiting to see whether the campaign has swayed government opinion.

"We have done just about everything and it's just the petition to go in now," said Mr Wright.

"The support has been really excellent, everyone is positive, and we have to keep our fingers crossed."