Hundreds march against airport plan

Locals say house prices near Stansted have fallen

Hundreds of demonstrators are joining a protest march around Stansted airport on Sunday against plans to make it Britain's largest.

There are proposals to add up to three more runways at the Essex airport - but pressure group AirportWatch is warning the government: "Proceed at your peril".

The Department for Transport's South East Regional Airport Study claims the extra runways are vital for coping with ever-increasing air traffic into and out of the UK.

People are not saying 'not in my back yard' - they are challenging the government to come up with a sensible and sustainable aviation policy

Tim Johnson, Expansion opponent

But local people and environmental campaigners are calling for the proposals to be re-thought.

The protestors are walking the public footpaths which surround the airport to demonstrate the "devastating affect" the expansion would have.

Jeff Gazzard, spokesman for AirportWatch, said: "The level of protest has been phenomenal. I've attended one packed meeting after another."

"The message to the government is clear: proceed with major airport expansion at your peril."

He told BBC News Online that many of the routes for the protest walk took in public footpaths which would be destroyed by the new runways.

"The main purpose of the event is to physically show the scale and the devastating affect these plans will have on the surrounding countryside."

UK air passenger numbers are expected to more than double from 180 million a year to 400 million by 2020.

On the cards

Sparked by the research, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling commissioned a study into how the UK's airports can best cope with the growing numbers.

As a result, plans now on the drawing board include the possibility of three extra runways at Stansted, one more at Heathrow and another at either Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Expansions at airports like Bristol, Birmingham and Luton are also on the cards.

Sunday's protest at Stansted has been organised to make feelings known before the study's four-month consultation period ends on 30 November.

Tim Johnson, director of the Aviation Environment Federation, said it was not a case of "nimbyism".

He said: "People are not saying 'not in my back yard' - they are challenging the government to come up with a sensible and sustainable aviation policy and not one written by the aviation industry."