Sir.-I write regarding the recent letter headed "Housing plea for army camp".

I was rather surprised at its content, referring to the MoD land at Bramley to be used for housing.

The gentleman who wrote that letter perhaps did not know what happened 16 years ago.

When a company started to lay a water pipe through the camp to Bramley, to save going along the road, in digging the trench they came across mustard gas bombs.

Hence the work was stopped.

During the removal of the bombs, people from Church End had to leave their homes on most days of each week until the work was complete and the bombs were removed.

I should like to quote what I was told by my father, who worked in the ammunitions depot until he retired: "Each quarter, they had a stock take of the ammunition held in each shed. If the stock take was more than the last quarter, they were told to take it outside and bury it four feet deep and six feet away from the shed."

As chairman of Sherfield Parish Council, I attended a public meeting at the depot, at which high-ranking Army officers were present.

I quoted the above statement and was told at the end of the meeting by the Major, who was chairman of the meeting, that in no way would any private building be allowed on this land because they could not say how much ammunition had been buried in the ground. Every yard would need to be turned over to ensure safety.

If that land is ever released by the MoD, I sincerely hope that people will remember what I have stated in this letter.

The ammunitions depot was in use from the end of the First World War until it closed in early 1977.

It covers an area of 400 acres, which was part of Sherfield-on-Loddon and a large part of Bramley, and, in the 1914-1918 war, was a German POW camp.

-Percy Sims, Goddards Close, Sherfield-on-Loddon.