§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether any progress has been made towards the reduction of heavy weapon firing on Hangmoor and Chobham Ridge Army ranges; and what is the current heavy weapon firing programme at these ranges.
§ Mr. DuffyIt is not possible to reduce the amount of heavy weapon firing on Hangmoor and Chobham Ridges Army 543W ranges. However, as an experiment, the number of occasions on which heavy weapon firing takes place is being reduced by concentrating the monthly firing programme into fewer days. The programme varies from month to month, but in October and November heavy weapon firing took place on 11 days in each month.