Gatwick noise campaigners unite in Downing Street protest

A second Gatwick runway is the third option being considered by the Airports Commission

Anti-noise campaigners across the South East have joined forces to campaign against narrowing Gatwick's flight paths.

Campaigners from Sussex and west Kent will deliver a protest letter to Downing Street.

They are angry at trials involving changes to flight paths, which they claim have blighted the lives of tens of thousands of people.

Gatwick Airport said it was trying to minimise the impact of aircraft noise.

Ian Hare, from Pulborough Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions, said: "It goes in fits and starts, when we have an easterly wind then we have a very intense and persistent flow of aircraft overhead."

He said in the nine minutes following 0600 BST, there were six flights going over him at between 4,500 and 6,000 feet.

"It's the continuous droning noise which makes it a bit like a motorway in the skies above us," he added.

'Minimise impact'

A Gatwick spokeswoman said the airport was receptive to feedback on all aspects of its operations.

"It is absolutely the right approach for all concerned to work together to agree ways to minimise the impact of aircraft noise," she said.

"We have been doing this for some time at Gatwick but welcome discussions on how this process can be improved."

A spokeswoman for the Civil Aviation Authority said it had "consistently challenged" the industry to be more ambitious in tackling aviation's environmental impacts.