THE village of Cliffe, near Strood, will be named as the sole option for a fourth international airport serving London at the end of next month. If the development goes ahead, it would be the biggest airport in Britain.

Its impact on the villages of Cliffe, Cooling, High Halstow and Allhallows could be catastrophic. All four could be in its way and, as with Heathrow during the Second World War, might have to be bulldozed.

A large part of the Thames marshes - an ecological area of importance for European and British bird life - would be buried under concrete. It would also mean the destruction of Britain's largest heronry at the RSPB's Northward Hill reserve.

The airport would initially have four runways, with sufficient room to allow for further increases in passenger demand. It would also have enough room to allow for extra runways and terminals to meet possible 'super-jumbos' in the future.

If it is approved - and several years of intensive lobbying is expected before a final decision is made - it would not be built for an expected 20 years.

The busiest landing and takeoff routes would be expected to run South West from the Isle of Grain. Gravesend and Dartford would be directly in the line of the planned flight paths.

Cllr Sandy Bruce-Lockhart, leader of Kent County Council, stressed its impact would be greater than the construction of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link. He said: "We have been told by the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions (DTLR) that the footprint of the proposed airport is larger than Heathrow."

The DTRL announcement is also expected to include plans for three new crossings of the Thames between Gravesend and Grain. They include a rail tunnel to provide a freight link between the North Kent Line and Tilbury, a road bridge near the Estuary, which is expected to provide a link to Essex off the dual-carriage A228, and 'the Thames Gateway Bridge', a road and rail crossing of the River Thames to and from the airport development.

Cllr Bruce-Lockhart added: "We are expecting an options paper to be published at the end of June, and the county's initial view is that it is opposed to an airport at Cliffe."

Cllr Rodney Chambers, leader of Medway Council, is expected to make a statement about the airport plans at the full council meeting on Thursday evening (May 30).