Suffolk County Council's highways department has already decided to keep Lincoln road, Waterworks road and Lords walk around the base closed until September after consulting with Ministry of Defence officials.

However Sq Ldr Chris Chaplin told Mildenhall parish councillors on Thursday: " The MOD want to pursue the permanent closure of these roads, but it is certainly going to be a complex matter, and it is by no means certain that the roads will be closed.

The county council controversially closed the roads on the 18th of September as a security measure to prevent an attack on the air base after the terrorist attacks in America on 11th of September last year.

They were due to re-open at the start of the new year, but instead the council extended their period of closure until 20th March. This caused resentment among businesses and residents living in the two streets. Malcolm Thompson, the owner of Mickey's Tea Bar in Waterworks road, told the Journal in December that the security measures had caused his trade to drop by 50%.

He said: " We are being victimised by the authorities over this. It is disgusting. There is no logic in the decision to keep this road closed at all.

Sqdn Ldr Chaplin told the parish council meeting that representatives from the MOD and the county council will meet again in London on 10th April to discuss the security arrangements.

He said he had been discussing the closures at a meeting earlier in the evening between Col Don Lustig, USAF commander on the base, and the local residents.

"I have made the point as forcefully as I can to the MOD that they should speak to the residents in the areas affected by the closures.

"I can reassure the council that I believe MOD officials from London will be visiting them in the not too distant future, " said Sqdn Ldr Chaplin.