A SECOND runway at Gatwick Airport will bring more pollution, more noise, and no real economic benefit, the government was warned today, after it green-lit the plans.

Under the £2.2 billion project, which is privately financed, the airport will move its emergency runway 12 metres north, enabling it to be used for departures of narrow-bodied planes.

Visiting the airport today, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: “This government promised to kickstart the economy — and we are.”

The runway will result in “lower costs for a family holiday” and “more good jobs paying decent wages,” she said.

The project aims to increase capacity by 100,000 flights a year and is expected to generate 14,000 jobs.

The Planning Inspectorate initially rejected the airport’s application but recommended that the government approve the project if certain changes were made.

Commitments now include a legally binding target for the proportion of passengers who travel to Gatwick by public transport, while residents affected by noise will also be able to ask Gatwick to cover the costs for triple-glazed windows.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski described ministers’ support of the runway as a “disaster,” adding: “It ignores basic climate science and risks undermining efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

“Labour keeps wheeling out the same nonsense about growth, but at what cost?

“What this really means is more pollution, more noise for local communities, and no real economic benefit.”

Local campaigners opposed to expansion are concerned about the impact on surface transport, noise, housing provision and wastewater treatment.

Cagne, an umbrella aviation community and environment group for Sussex, Surrey and Kent, said it stands ready to serve a judicial review funded by residents and environmental bodies.

The group said: “We know this government cares little for the environmental impact aviation is having on our planet and Gatwick’s neighbours, but not to demand that Gatwick pays for the infrastructure, the onsite wastewater treatment plant, and noise impact is unlawful in our book.”

But Rachel Curley, deputy general secretary of Prospect union, said the expansion “has the potential to support good unionised jobs in the aviation sector, as well as make sure that UK economy has the connectivity it needs to our trading partners across Europe and further afield.

“Lack of airport capacity in the south-east of England leads to a lack of resilience for our transport system, something expansion can and must address,” she said.