The prime minister, MPs and the media have made great play in recent weeks of the scourge of ‘spurious’ claims against the Ministry of Defence.

If the door does happen to shut on these claims, perhaps lawyers looking for alternative work should reach for the sky – literally.

A freedom of information response published yesterday has revealed the MoD has paid out almost £375,000 in 2014/15 to compensate people who complained about low-flying aircraft.

The biggest award was in East Sussex, where a Chinook helicopter caused almost £80,000-worth of damage through the loss of poultry and egg production.

Other claims have included injured horses, loss of gamebirds, damage to roofs and the loss of cows in Anglesey and Devon.

There is even pay out for that old chestnut of ‘compensation claim’ injuries, whiplash, which someone suffered at the hands of a Tornado in Cumbria. Whether this was from being hit by or looking up at one, is not made clear.

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