THE fate of RAF Odiham is to be revealed in the House of Commons today. As exclusively revealed in The Gazette last year, Joint Helicopter Command has had to chose whether to shut the base or RAF Dishforth in Yorkshire, as part of an "estate rationalisation". Its decision will be announced in the House today, and defence pundits are predicting that it will be Odiham that faces the axe. As a result, the bases fleet of 70 Chinooks would be moved to Yeovilton, Somerset, to operate alongside Royal Navy Sea King, Lynx and Gazelle helicopters under a joint rotary-wing command. This would be followed by the sale of the base, raising an estimated £500m for the Ministry of Defence. The 1,600 personnel currently based at RAF Odiham would also be moved, while the 70 civilians employed would lose their jobs. Chinooks from the base have proved an invaluable tool in international conflicts by transporting soldiers, equipment and food. Two of the helicopters, plus 50 personnel, are currently supporting the War on Terror in Afghanistan from a base in Oman. Odiham's MP, James Arbuthnot, said there would be an enormous social and economic impact on Odiham if the base were to close. "If the base does close, Odiham will lose a lot of highly skilled and motivated service people," he said. "People that tend to stay in the area when they retire, and contribute a lot to the community." Mr Arbuthnot added: "I see only disadvantages in closing the base and every advantage in letting the Chinook fleet remain to do their job of defending the country, unmolested." RAF Odiham's community liason officer, Paul Smyth, said he could not pre-empt today's announcement, but said that if the base was to close, it would not happen until 2005.