A national campaign has been launched to preserve Bicester's airfield and turn it into a major tourist attraction.

Voluntary organisation Bomber Command Heritage (BCH) has started an online petition in support of the former RAF Bicester - and has already collected more than 1,000 signatures.

It wants to see the site, off Skimmingdish Lane, used as a Second World War-themed heritage attraction.

Chairman Martin Jones said BCH was part of a consortium which bid for the site two years ago.

He said BCH was approached by a group of developers who wanted to offer a museum on the site as part of their package.

But the deal fell through - and now BCH is hoping to push the museum idea forward on its own.

Mr Jones said BCH initially hoped to use one or two buildings on the base's technical site as a small museum.

But he added: "If we secured enough support it could actually be turned into a World War Two-themed tourist attraction. It would be a tremendous asset for Bicester and the local area. Ultimately it could be a major UK museum.

"Bicester is a unique opportunity to capture a moment in time. It sounds far-fetched but it's actually quite do-able if we get the support."

The Ministry of Defence owns the site but is hoping to sell it next year.

MrJones added BCH also planned to apply for funding from organisations such as the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Although BCH's mission was to keep as much of the site preserved as possible, it would not rule out further collaboration with developers if that was the only option.

Mr Jones added Bicester's good transport links and shopping village made it a particularly good site.

The base, built as a bomber station in 1924, was listed by the Government after English Heritage labelled it "Britain's best pre-war airfield".

The airfield was earmarked for about 1,500 houses, but after it was designated as a conservation area in 2002, the houses were allocated to land between Bicester and Chesterton.

Chesterton resident David Chapman is leading a campaign calling for the decision to be reconsidered.

He said: "I have spoken to a lot of RAF and ex-RAF personnel and they can't understand why RAF Bicester should be preserved. It has no historical value."

To support the campaign visit the website at www.bc-heritage.org/bicester or write to Bomber Command Heritage, c/o 29 Eden Road, Gossops Green, Crawley, West Sussex, RH11 8LZ.