AIRPORT groups who won a judicial review over the decision not to site an airport at Cliffe, are re-awakening fears among people on the Hoo Peninsula, according to campaigners.

Lobby groups based around Heathrow and Stansted airports were told by the High Court last week that their application to seek judicial review was accepted.

George Crozer, chairman of the group which led the campaign against an airport at Cliffe, said fears would be rekindled, just as people thought the problem had gone away.

"I feel particularly sorry for older people in the area," he said. "They are the ones who worry most. "It looks as if this argument could be with us for a long time. If a judicial review is granted it will grind on for years.

"There are no sites in the Thames Estuary that would be suitable for an airport. From an environmental point of view an offshore site would be just as damaging as Cliffe.

"What we should be doing now is promoting the marshes as a tourist attraction."

The High Court agreed to grant permission to seek judicial review because the Government White Paper, which dealt with the issue, failed to fully consider two offshore options.

The leader of Medway Council, Cllr Rodney Chambers, said: "It's a great shame that this red herring of an estuarial option has still not been put to rest.

"The judicial review applicants have conceded that they do not want an estuarial airport and they know there is no chance that any of the estuarial concepts will ever be built.

"As the Cliffe evidence showed it would be impossible for new airports in this area to be financially viable, particularly as there was no material user support for Cliffe, Marinair or any of the drawing board ideas.

"The arguments we used against the Cliffe option hold equally strong and true for any of the estuarial options.

"This idea is no more than 'pie in the sea'. We look forward to the High Court giving our communities the security they deserve by ruling that there is no need for further consultation."

KM-fm's Conor Lennon has been finding out the reaction to the news and why the threat has re-surfaced...