Petition by elderly over Harrier

More than 100 pensioners in a sheltered housing complex have signed a petition demanding Stafford's RAF Harrier jet is kept off the roundabout outside their homes.

Residents of Stafford town centre have already objected to development plans which they say will turn the memorial garden on the traffic island into a "floodlit, razor-wire-defended compound".

Now the pensioners from Foregate Court want their say, claiming that floodlights will keep them awake and that the aircraft, once used in the Falklands war, will attract drunken and anti-social yobs to the area.

The council is currently working on plans to move the plane into the town centre from its current site outside RAF Stafford to mark the town's long association with the air force.

Chris Baron, ward councillor for the area, handed in the petition to the council - and said she could see where the elderly people were coming from.

She said: "I can understand why they would be opposed to the relocation of the aircraft.

"The plans are to floodlight the plane, but their homes look right over the island and they believe the light will prevent them sleeping.

"There are also the concerns that, despite the plans to seal off access, youngsters, particularly those who have had a drink, may try and climb it - and that it could become a magnet for anti-social behaviour."