THE future of a naval training base used by wartime leaders to plan the D-Day landings hangs in the balance exactly 59 years to the day after Allied forces invaded Normandy.

Up to 1,600 servicemen and women are to be moved from HMS Dryad at Southwick to the maritime warfare school at HMS Collingwood in Fareham next year.

The shock move comes seven years earlier than planned after the MoD first announced its intention to close the training base down in 2011 two years ago. They say they are working ahead of schedule because much of the training facilities have already been transferred to Collingwood.

Now people living in the village are calling for the MoD to make their intentions for the 30-acre site clear, particularly in the light of government plans for an asylum seekers' centre at Daedalus.

The future of Southwick House at Dryad is another top priority for Southwick councillor Ken Carter, villagers and many Second World War veterans. It is where General Eisenhower made his decision to launch the D-Day landings code-named Operation Overlord on the famous wall map which still exists in the anteroom today.

A Royal Navy spokesman said the MoD would try to find another military use for the site but if none could be found the land would be put on the market. Winchester MP Mark Oaten said it was "disappointing" the link between Southwick and the Navy was going to end.