easyJet has agreed to take action to reduce a 'high-pitched, whining' noise which plagues residents of west Kent.

The company will modify their older Airbus A320 planes which produce the disturbing sound following a meeting between Tunbridge Wells MP, Greg Clark, and easyJet's chief executive, Carolyn McCall.

This is a huge success for Mr Clark in his campaign and fight against aircraft noise. easyJet said it will complete the aircraft modification by June 2016 - two years faster than originally announced.

The whining noise on A320 planes is caused by the Fuel Over Pressure Protector (FOPP) cavities which can be easily fixed by retrofitting the planes with a simple piece of kit called a flow detector.

It follows a decision by British Airways earlier this year to do the same thing.

Mr Clark said: “When I met Carolyn McCall I told her about the concerns of my constituents living under the Gatwick flightpath and I am pleased to say that she committed to doing everything that she can to help ease this situation, including bringing forward the modification of their older A320 planes based at Gatwick.

"When easyJet first announced that they were going to modify their fleet after some months of pressing them on this issue, the completion date given was March 2018 – her agreement to bring this work forward by two years is a very significant step and I told her that this action would be warmly welcomed by local people.

“I also took the opportunity to talk about the impact that the movement of the Gatwick flightpath has had on our local area resulting in planes flying in a narrower path over more populated areas. Whilst this is not within the gift of easyJet to change, she did agree to raise this matter with the National Air Traffic Service (NATS). I have also requested a meeting with the Chief Executive of NATS specifically on this issue as I think more can be done to disperse flights over a wider area.”