PEACE campaigners have called in an ombudsman, in a row over the fate of an orchid.

They say a wildlife site on which the orchid has thrived next to an American military base in Yorkshire is being destroyed by extensions to the base's security system and other work.

They called in a botanical expert who recommended that the rare marsh orchid be protected from the work - but say his advice was ignored.

Now campaigners say that many of the orchids have been destroyed, and they have turned to the Local Government Ombudsman for help.

The United States communications centre at Menwith Hill on the Yorkshire Moors outside Harrogate has been a target of peace campaigners for nearly 20 years.

The base is linked to satellites which gather military, political and economic intelligence from around the world and feed it back to the US.

It has the ability to intercept local, national and international telecommunications, and is expected to be used in the development of the United States' "Star Wars" programme if it goes ahead.

Despite the collapse of the Soviet Union, the base is expanding with the addition of more and more distinctive giant "golf balls" which house radomes and other electronic equipment.

Anne Lee and Helen John are among the regular long-term protesters. They have taken up the case of the rare orchids with the base authorities and with Harrogate Borough Council.

Ms Lee says the orchids are being destroyed by expansion of the security fence, by draining and by mowing and other work.

"In the past I have mailed parcels of mown orchids to the base commander," said Ms Lee, a retired schoolteacher from Otley.

"I have pointed out that the orchids are sensitive to even minor changes in their habitat. This year the damage has been less because there are fewer plants owing to drying-up of the site."

The Ombudsman's office in York said no comment could be made until the complaint bad been investigated.

The US base is nominally under the command of the Royal Air Force. A spokeswoman for RAF commander Squadron Leader Humphrey Vincent said: "We were not aware they were going to the Ombudsman. Until we know more about why we cannot comment."