THE chief instructor of Tilstock Airfield says he is 'keen' to work with neighbours after an anonymous noise complaint was filed against the airfield.

The site is a former First World War army base, which was converted to an airfield in the 1940s to train bomber crews during the Second World War.

Since 1964 the site has operated as a skydiving centre, marketing itself as the oldest continually-operating civilian skydiving location in England.

Despite this lengthy existence, Alex Hicks, chief instructor at the centre, says the industry's governing body had recently received an anonymous noise complaint.

The centre currently uses a Gippsland GA-8 Airvan and Alex says there are plans to purchase a quieter aircraft in the future, but owing to the costs this is still several years away.

"We are very keen to work with our neighbours to solve any problems they have," said Alex. "Skydiving has taken place at Tilstock for over 50 years making us the oldest civilian skydiving centre in England and we want to be here in another 50.

"We do have a plan to purchase a much quieter turbine aircraft which will significantly reduce our noise footprint.

"But as this is a significant investment we are still three years away from making that happen."