High Court gives go-ahead to Stansted

The Government's plans to expand Stansted Airport were given the go-ahead by a High Court judge today.

Campaigners failed in their bid to stop plans for a second runway which will bring an extra 10 million passengers to the Essex airport.

The Stop Stansted Expansion group claimed ministers had disregarded the environmental impact of the increased noise and the greenhouse effect created by a second runway.

They accused the Government of unlawfully "steamrollering these plans every step of the way".

But judge Sir Thayne Forbes ruled their complaints at the way the expansion was approved last October were "unjustified and without substance".

He ordered them to pay legal costs limited to £20,000 and refused permission to appeal saying he was confident any appeal had "no reasonable prospect of success".

However, the group's campaign director Carol Barbone said they would press to take their case to the Appeal Court. "Today's decision seems to make matters even less clear than they were before," she said.