Some good points made in the last few posts, and interesting info about heli ops & techniques that I wasn't aware of being a fixed wing pilot.
The airfield in question is Cumbernauld, I didn't initially name it as I didn't want to appear to be getting at them, it was more of a point about mixed ops in general.
I'm sure it is possible to mix heli and fixed wing ops in most places, however the airfield in question is very tight for space. The helicopters (more than one, so I assume it's standard practice there) are never far from the runway (because there isn't space) - often close enough that the rotor tips are almost over the edge of the runway. Add in low hours students learning to hover and it doesn't look good.
Call me a wimp, but I just don't think there's enough space for this type of activity. As P1 I could elect to go around of course, but if the heli-guy is on an hour's lesson you could have a long wait for the runway to clear. Anyone working / based at Cumbernauld care to comment?