Airstrip plans thrown out

Plans to build an airstrip near a village in Kent have been rejected.

A group of pilots put forward the proposal to use a field near Ash, between Sandwich and Canterbury.

Local residents, including the parish council, objected to the scheme because of the noise and concerns over safety.

Dover District Council refused the plans but the pilots are now talking to a consultant to find out whether or not there are grounds for appeal.

The pilots said there would only be about 1,000 flights a year but protestors claimed these would be concentrated at weekends and evenings.

'Quite disappointed'

Nigel Whitburn, chairman of Ash Parish Council, said: "The application was saying that there would be an average of about 1,000 movements a year on this particular grass strip .

"We realised that this would be not be spread out evenly over the year but movements would be concentrated on the weekends and the good weather in the summer."

David Durrell, one of the pilots behind the scheme, said: "We are quite disappointed actually.

"It is a question of whether the application was dealt with properly and we do not think it has been."