SPA MP Peter Luff has written to the defence secretary John Reid to tell him the town's medal office site is not his to sell.

Peter Luff claims the land belongs to the heirs of the original owner, Thomas Everton, and that the Ministry of Defence must offer it back to those heirs.

In his letter Mr Luff says the decision to close the army medal office in the Spa was "one of the most unfortunate, short-sighted and inappropriate government decisions he could recall in his 13 years as an MP".

He says he did not believe the Government would get planning permission for anything other than continued use as employment land giving the land significantly less value than assumed.

Mr Luff claimed the Government did not legally have the power to dispose of the land and retain the proceeds.

He said: "I am clear that, at the time it was taken over by the government in the Second World War, a promise was made to the then owner that it would be offered back when the need no longer existed."

Mr Luff said the Crichel Down rules applied to this land and that it was obliged to offer the land back to its original owner or his successors in title.

The Crichel Down Rules are non statutory rules dating from the 1950s relating to the offer back to the previous owners of surplus government land that was acquired from the previous owners by, or under the threat of, compulsary purchase.

In his letter Mr Luff added: "It is a matter of fact that Mr Everton was assured the land would be returned to him if it was no longer needed. This indeed happened to adjoining land belonging to another local person.

"Even if you do not think that your department should honour its solemn pledges made at a time on national emergency, it should honour its own more recent rules," he added.