Campaigners against Heathrow expansion plant 2,000 paper planes

Campaigners opposed to a third runway at Heathrow have planted around 2,000 black paper planes in gardens near Parliament.

The gesture is highlight that 2016 will be a grim year for residents if airport expansion is given the go-ahead by the Government.

The number of planes planted today signifies that campaigners from the opposition group HACAN expect up to 2000 flights at day to use the airport if it gets another runway. That's up from 1350 a day at present.

Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin announced before Christmas that a decision about a new runway that had been expected in December, would be deferred for at least another six months.

The Department for Transport is still looking at the options for a third runway at Heathrow, a second runway at Gatwick and the plan put forward by Heathrow Hub to double the length of the existing northern runway at Heathrow.

Andrew Pendleton, Head of Campaigns, Friends of the Earth: