Part of a historic wartime airfield is to be turned into a holiday homes site - with a museum to honour the men and women who served there.

East Anglian Daily Times: Lavenham Airfield, Alpheton, a cgi of how the re-developed site could look with holiday homes and a museum building.Lavenham Airfield, Alpheton, a cgi of how the re-developed site could look with holiday homes and a museum building. (Image: Bedfords)

Permission has been granted to develop the 1.3acre site at Lavenham Airfield.

Holiday homes similar to the Nissen huts from the 1939 to 1945 conflict will be built, while the ruins of the former radar building will be turned into a small museum.

Lavenham Airfield, off the A134, was in operation from March 1944 to August 1945 and was a base for the US Air Force 487 Bombardment Group.

It flew 185 missions and more than 6,000 sorties in that time, dropping 14,641 tonnes of explosive shells.

East Anglian Daily Times: Former radar building at Lavenham Airfield, Alpheton, Suffolk. Picture: BEDFORDSFormer radar building at Lavenham Airfield, Alpheton, Suffolk. Picture: BEDFORDS (Image: Archant)

The radar and radio operations building is now derelict, although the remains of the listening booths are still evident.

The site has planning permission to turn part of the footprint of that building into a museum, and to consolidate the remainder of it.

Paul Bedford, of agents Bedfords, said it was a unique business opportunity for somebody with vision.

He said: "It's an exciting opportunity to take on such a historic site with a theme so many people are passionate about. Nearby Lavenham is a popular tourist destination and this could be a perfectly placed project to embrace."

The former radar operations site near Lavenham is on the market with Bedfords with a guide price of £195,000.

Little remains of the original airfield, much of which has now reverted to arable farmland, although the control tower has been preserved along with some areas of hard standing from the runways which are now used for agricultural purposes.