THE people of Medway and Gravesend have given a resounding No to any plan for an airport at Cliffe, near Rochester.

For the past fortnight, the Medway Messenger and Medway Today newspapers, together with their sister paper, the Gravesend Messenger, have invited readers to return a survey saying whether they agree or disagree with the airport.

More than 2,100 people have responded so far. The results, together with all the voting slips, will be delivered to the Prime Minister’s office in time for them to be included in the consultations which Transport Secretary Alistair Darling started in July.

The figures show that an overwhelming 95.56 per cent are opposed to the plan. Only 119 people said an airport at Cliffe would personally benefit them.

There was marginally more support for the airport in Medway, where 75 people out of 1,073 voting readers gave the plan a thumbs-up.

Medway’s youth parliament was more evenly spread, with 40 per cent voting in favour of the airport last week. One of their members, Devpreet Sanhi, of Gillingham, said the airport would “make Medway a major city in Europe”.

The Government’s consultations are due to end at the end of November, with a decision being made next summer.