ABOUT 100 planes a day heading to or from Luton airport fly over Suffolk according to new figures from the National Air Traffic Service (NATS).In a letter to Dick Histed from the South Suffolk Air Transport Action Group (SSATAG), NATS revealed that a third of all flights to or from Luton flew over Suffolk.

ABOUT 100 planes a day heading to or from Luton airport fly over Suffolk according to new figures from the National Air Traffic Service (NATS).

In a letter to Dick Histed from the South Suffolk Air Transport Action Group (SSATAG), NATS revealed that a third of all flights to or from Luton flew over Suffolk.

An average of about 300 planes a day use the Bedfordshire airport - carrying 10 million passengers a year - meaning that about 100 of those pass over Suffolk.

Mr Histed was concerned to hear about the numbers: “When I spoke to the director at Luton about two years ago he said about seven per cent of their flights came over Suffolk.

“Now NATS are saying it is a third of the flights - that is a big increase and it would certainly bear out what people have been saying on the ground.”

His group has found it very difficult to get accurate information from the authorities about how many planes have been flying over the county.

He said: “People living near Sudbury have been told there are only 32 aircraft a day flying over their homes and that is simply not true.

“Anyone who looks up at the sky can tell that is not a sensible figure, we have done our own surveys which show about 250 planes fly over the area every day.”

Jane Johnston, from NATS, told the Star last month: “Around 95per cent of aircraft using the 'Clacton Beacon' are departures from UK airports, with Stansted and Luton arrivals accounting for only 5pc.”