Villagers join UK airport protest over runway plan

Among the seasoned climate change activists at the Heathrow Airport protest camp are a group of women from the nearby village of Sipson.

They said their community was threatened with extinction if plans to build a third runway were given the green light.

Placards with the slogan “no third runway” are attached to almost every street light on roads around the camp.

Mother of two Lesley Harrison, 60, said Sipson residents will be visiting the site on and off for the entire week.

She said: “We are local residents and we want to save our village. We are fed up with being bullied by BAA.

“They want to demolish not just my house but every other house.

“They won’t come out and tell us what is definitely happening. We have been left in limbo.”

Lynne Davies, 59, who has lived in Sipson for more than 50 years, said the runway will “wipe out” the village.

She said: “This has brought the community together but we are exhausted. We are little people against a big organisation.”

Retired bank worker Linda McCutcheon, 62, said draft plans of the new runway and terminal do not give a full picture of the developments.

She said: “All of my family life will be under concrete and that is a fact. That is no joke.”

Speaking about the media attention the camp has received, she added: “BAA have shot themselves in the foot by attracting all this press through the High Court injunction.

“We are going to milk it for all we can. It’s the best thing that could have happened to us.”