IT IS PART of daily life for Moray residents living with Scotland’s only remaining RAF base in their midst – but for many other parts of the country they are just an unwelcome nuisance.
So much a nuisance indeed that the Ministry of Defence has reported they have had to pay out a total of £177,000 in compensation as a result of a variety of damage compensation claims.
The roar of RAF Lossiemouth’s frontline Typhoon and Tornado aircraft tend to raise heads rather than hackles in Moray, but for the farmer in Dumfries and Galloway they are an absolute killer as evidenced by the £5049 he was paid out after one of his prize cows died of fright after one of the jets came a little too close for comfort.
According to the latest figures released by the MoD, there was also the case of two horses that suffered injuries in the same area that ended up costing £163, presumably in vet bills.
It is not just animals who suffer – on the list of damage claims is the motorist from Edinburgh who won a claim totalling £3500 for damage to his car by a passing Typhoon of the RAF variety – while a broken window in Wester Ross added £300 to the bill.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We take the issue of safe low-flying extremely seriously and understand that low-flying can be noisy and unpopular, but it is an essential part of operational training.
“The MoD is constantly striving to ensure that such disturbance is kept to an absolute minimum and that the burden of noise pollution is as evenly distributed as possible throughout the UK.”