NATIONAL park planners have criticised the Ministry of Defence for building a secur-ity patrol track at a top-secret RAF base without seeking planning permission first.

Members of the park planning authority are sending a protest to the MoD because much of the track, at RAF Fylingdales early warning station, and a portable cabin gate-house for police at the station entrance, were already in place.

They called for a management plan to be drawn up within 18 months on future plans for the station, and for a liaison committee to be established between the station, the MoD, and the national park.

Scores of protest letters were sent to the committee from people worried that the development could be part of a Star Wars programme.

Protestors said they also feared upgrading the station, could increase the risk of a terrorist attack and that it might contribute to US military control of space, putting world peace at risk.

The MoD told park officers that the track and security office were needed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US.

Senior planning officer Val Dilcock said it was "very regrettable" that the development had gone ahead without planning permission, but the MoD could give itself approval for any scheme, she added.