VILLAGERS in North Kent have reacted angrily to a proposal to build an airport in their backyard. Transport Secretary Stephen Byers is believed to be considering plans for an airport on marshland near a nature reserve at Cliffe, near Strood.

The proposal for a four-runway airport is part of a wider plan to cope with a projected doubling of air traffic over the next 20 years. Cliffe parish councillor Lesley Parker was disgusted by the news, saying the plan was a threat to wildlife in the area.

She said: "I am shocked to be honest, and surprised because the RSPB owns so much land down on the marshes. The marshland is not the best thing to build on, but if something like this ever came about I would most certainly move."

The Thames is regarded as one of Europe's most important estuaries by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB).

A spokesman for the RSPB said: "Clearly the North Kent marshes are one of the most important for bird life in Europe. The idea of putting an airport out there does not make sense. If the proposal was to go any further it would be a long drawn-out process and our opinion is that it won't happen."

Former Medway councillor and Cliffe resident Chris Fribbins was furious at the proposals. He said: "This is an internationally recognised area of outstanding natural beauty. Surely that would go against any proposal to develop anything on the marshes. There is no provision for an industrial development in that area. The roads would not be able to take it.

"There would be opposition from residents even if it were something as tiny as a small factory, let alone an airport. It seems ridiculous to consider building more airports when after September 11 fewer people are flying."

Medway Council leader Cllr Rodney Chambers said: "If there is a need for extra capacity that cannot be accommodated by existing airports serving London, there is already a site in Kent. If improvements were made in rail and road communications, roads between London and Maidstone, and in and around Thanet, that would be the appropriate place to go as it has both the site and the runaway."