Two West Midlands Territorial Army bases axed in new defence cuts

Walsall and Kidderminster will both lose their Territorial Army bases after Defence Secretary Philip Hammond confirmed they are among 38 military sites across the country to close.

At least 60 reservists at the two bases, which will shut by December 2016, are affected. And the Royal Mercian and Lancastrian Yeomanry, with a base in Dudley and headquarters in Telford, is to make way for a new Scottish and Northern Irish Yeomanry.

The closures come despite plans to bolster the TA – renamed the Army Reserve – from 19,000 to 30,000 reservists by 2020, as the strength of the regular army is cut from 100,000 to 82,000.

Army Reserve numbers in the West Midlands and Staffordshire must rise from 2,500 to 3,500 in that period.

The Dudley squadron, based in Vicar Street, Dudley, will merge with Telford and regimental headquarters will be transferred from Telford to Croydon – more than 190 miles away. That move comes as part of plans to reduce the size of the 550-strong 4th Battalion Mercian Regiment. The bases in Telford and Dudley are expected to remain open, however.

But Dudley North MP Ian Austin said: "This has confirmed our worst fears. The RMLY was a popular and expanding regiment with deep roots in the local community. The Defence Secretary should have listened to the supporters and families of RMLY officers and reservists."

The Kidderminster site in Birmingham Road which is to be axed has been there since 1859 and its soldiers have the freedom of Kidderminster. Walsall's TA centre in Sutton Road has also been declared surplus to requirements.

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