ian bruce THE US has paid the Ministry of Defence almost £1.7m in the last three years to provide a British stop and search outer cordon round its most secret base on UK soil.

Figures seen by The Herald also show 2110 motorists have been stopped and 941 vehicles searched as they approached RAF Menwith Hill, the largest electronic eavesdropping centre outside America.

The base, near Harrogate in Yorkshire, is run by the US National Security Agency, which has 1200 staff on site. Despite its status as an "RAF" station, the location has only a token UK military presence. The US military provides armed, on-site security.

One of Menwith Hill's prime advantages is that it lies outside US jurisdiction and can listen-in via satellite links to American domestic telephone traffic without contravening phone-tapping regulations.