Incredible pictures from inside a once-thriving British airport give a snapshot from within the airport eight years after it closed its doors to passengers.
Manston Airport in Kent has not been commercially active since 2014.
It was developed on the site of the old RAF Manston, which was frequently attacked and heavily bombed during the Battle of Britain.
Barnes Wallis also used the base to test his bouncing bomb on the coast at nearby Reculver, prior to the famus Dambusters raid.
It was branded as Manston, Kent International Airport, but was also briefly known as London Manston Airport.
Since 2015 the airport has been variously used as an emergency lorry park in the event of temporary cross-Channel traffic problems, a Covid testing centre, and even a film set.
The owners propose to reopen the airport for flights in early 2025.
However, some local residents are mounting a legal challenge to the bid.
Meanwhile, the passenger departure terminal remains largely unaltered.
On entry, people are greeted with a mock up of the front desk of Margate hospital from the 1980s.
A sign above a nearby door is labelled 'Ward 1' as earlier this year the disused building was used as part of the set of film director Sam Mendes' Empire of Light movie starring Olivia Colman.
It was the busiest the building has been since flights were grounded back in 2014.
Since then the site has been locked in a relentless legal tug-of-war between its owners RiverOak Strategic Partners (RSP) - keen to turn it into a multi-million pound cargo hub - and local opponents.
Having been recently given the nod by the Government to reopen, it now faces another possible judicial review which, if nothing else, will delay certainty over its future yet again.
Yet while it has been at the centre of a political whirlwind over the years - parties at Thanet District Council were elected and rejected based on their views on the site while local opinion has been equally divided - the airport itself has stood still.
Gary Blake, the airport's general manager, is the sole remaining direct employee at the site.
Ramsgate resident Jenny Dawes has applied for a judicial review of the decision to allow the Thanet site to be transformed into a cargo hub.
The move means the decision earlier this year to green-light the multi-million-pound scheme will be reassessed by a High Court judge.
RSP bosses hope the review will be dealt with swiftly to pave the way for them to start preliminary work by Christmas.
However Ms Dawes' legal team filed its 1,200-page appeal last month.
This said: "Developing Manston Airport will cause irreparable harm to the people, environment and the economy of east Kent."
