A Dorset military base is set for expansion following an investment by the Ministry of Defence.

Early stage plans have been lodged with Purbeck District Council to construct a new tank simulators training base at the Amour Centre at Bovington Camp which would see two tank training programmes provided at the facilities, one of which includes full simulator training for the Royal Armoured Corps.

The proposed 4.3 hectare development would be located on a currently disused part of the base, to the south of residential properties at Higher Wood and to the north of buildings associated with the Tank Museum which was recently expanded in 2017.

This would consist of two separate buildings, one of which would house the simulators and associated training rooms and classrooms while a second and smaller building (the Vehicle Instruction Shed (VIS)), would house four tanks.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation which manages the Ministry of Defence's estate says that the investment in the development which is not being disclosed at this stage will allow expansion of MOD operations.

They added that it would ensure a high standard of training will continue to be delivered at Bovington which may bring opportunities regarding the security of jobs for many of the local community.

The Armour Centre at Bovington Camp has been the Defence’s Centre of Excellence for the training of Armoured Fighting Vehicles personnel, and has recently purchased a fleet of over 500 new Armoured Tracked Vehicles, referred to as AJAX.

Within the planning report submitted to Purbeck District Council, they added: " Due to technological advances, state of the art simulation equipment at the facility will be used to train the military.

"This will reduce dependency on training which uses live firing at Lulworth Ranges, thus reducing noise caused by such activities alongside the reduced usage of tanks during training would also reduce impacts on local road networks."

They continued: "Although the scale of the Proposed Development is large, it is in keeping with the setting of the area

due to the variety of large buildings within the camp, to the north of the camp and those forming part of the Tank Museum."

The plans will be determined by Purbeck District Council in due course.