TIM YEO is to call on the government to quash Stansted expansion plans when he addresses an air campaign meeting next week.The South Suffolk MP will take the floor at a meeting of South Suffolk Air Traffic Action Group (SSATAG) on Tuesday when he will call on Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, to bring an end to all consideration of a second runway at the Essex airport.

TIM YEO is to call on the government to quash Stansted expansion plans when he addresses an air campaign meeting next week.

The South Suffolk MP will take the floor at a meeting of South Suffolk Air Traffic Action Group (SSATAG) on Tuesday when he will call on Alistair Darling, Secretary of State for Transport, to bring an end to all consideration of a second runway at the Essex airport.

Mr Yeo will tell the meeting: “The claimed justification for the extra runway is the expected growth in air traffic. After the tripling of the oil price over the last four years, which is having a big impact on air fares, nobody believes those traffic growth projections are accurate.

“The government should now produce fresh estimates of the future level of air traffic, based on realistic assumptions about fuel prices. These estimates should also take account of the probability that aviation will be brought within the EU emissions trading system, which will further raise the cost of flying.”

Mr Yeo, former shadow secretary of state for the environment, also believes that when the environmental damage caused by aircraft becomes more widely understood, measures will be taken to reduce the rate of expansion of the aviation industry.

The long-serving MP called a public meeting in Sudbury last year and has since managed to get authorities to agree to make careful records of flights into the airport.

He will be joined at SSATAG's meeting by Peter Sanders, chairman of the Stop Stansted Expansion group.

The meeting is expected to attract significant interest as it will report back on investigations which SSATAG and their allies have been making over recent months into the over flying aircraft in the South Suffolk area.

A representative from Suffolk County Council is also expected to be present.

The meeting is scheduled to take place on Tuesday at 7.30pm at Stoke by Nayland Golf Club.