The battle over plans to relocate the RAF's tanker fleet to

Boscombe Down took another twist this week when it was revealed that none of the shortlisted aircraft manufacturers is interested in basing its operations in south Wiltshire.

Boscombe Down is competing directly with Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, the base for the current air-to-air refuelling fleet, to house the £9bn Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) project.

But a successful bid is reliant on the formation of a business partnership with one of the four prime service providers - BAE Systems, Eurotanker, Rolls-Royce and Serco.

Their role is to provide and operate a fleet of tanker aircraft with support services, for which they must link up with one of the bases in the bidding process.

Yet at this time none of the groups has expressed a desire to work out of the base near Amesbury, according to Salisbury MP Robert Key.

"I have assurances that these four groups have no interest in Boscombe Down," said Mr Key.

A spokeswoman for base operators Dera declined to comment on this, instead stating that it was "still very early days".

"All we're saying is that we've a got a possible alternative base - but we appreciate that there is very strong competition," she said.