Heathrow pollution extends 17 miles

The true scale of the misery more than half a million Londoners suffer from noisy early-hours flights into Heathrow can be revealed today.

An Evening Standard investigation proves noise problems from Heathrow extend across a much greater area than the Government and aviation industry acknowledge. Despite quieter planes, the astonishing rise in air traffic coming to London means even families as far away as Crystal Palace are paying for the airport's success with chronic sleepless nights.

The conclusion comes as airport operator BAA predicts passenger numbers at Heathrow will jump from 60 million to 85 million a year by 2012 - leading to more flights, more noise and more pollution.

Evening Standard study was instigated after it emerged the Transport Secretary Stephen Byers had won the right of appeal against a European Court of Human Rights judgment that residents were entitled to sleep undisturbed by aircraft noise between 11.30pm and 6am.

Monitors were set up in the homes of four volunteers, with a microphone outside the bedroom window, to measure decibel levels from flights overhead. It was found that even 17 miles from Heathrow, planes going overhead at night hit more than 70 decibels - the equivalent of a small orchestra striking up outside the window.

BAA and Mr Byers accept there is a zone around Heathrow where people under the flight path endure noise above an average of 57 decibels, the official "onset of annoyance" point. But campaigners say the government definition of acceptable noise is meaningless and from Blackheath to Berkshire people are being disturbed.

Evening Standard's findings show:

? Readings of more than 60 decibels between 4.30am and 6am from at least five planes flying over Crystal Palace, 17 miles from Heathrow. At least seven more register between 50 and 60 decibels before 7am;

? At the Oval, 14 miles from Heathrow, two aircraft hit 70 decibels just before 5am. About 20 between 6am and 7am touch 70 decibels;

? At Fulham, 10 miles from Heathrow, 13 aircraft between 4.30am and 6am pierce the early morning quiet in a back garden, increasing background noise of around 40 decibels to more than 70 decibels. Between 6am and 7am, almost 40 aircraft raise the sound level every 90 seconds to upwards of 70 decibels;

? At Barnes, eight miles from Heathrow, clear evidence of how efforts to switch runways for incoming aircraft can ease the burden for residents: readings touch 80 decibels in the early hours, but from 6am fall below 70 decibels as aircraft change their angle of approach.

John Stewart, chairman of antinoise group Hacan (Heathrow Association for the Control of Aircraft Noise), said: "For the first time, this is definitive proof that what residents have been saying for 10 years is actually true: night flights are a problem not just around Heathrow, but in areas more than 17 miles away.

"More than one million people live under the Heathrow flight path. It would be no exaggeration to say at least half a million have planes going over them from 4.30 in the morning."

The aviation industry says night flight disruption is a fair trade-off for considerable economic benefits. British Airways estimates the 16 flights a night, mostly carrying business people from the Far East, contribute £1.3 billion a year to the economy and directly support 6,200 jobs.

Airlines argue Britain has by far the strictest regulations, with no limits at Paris Charles de Gaulle and more than 100 night flights at Frankfurt.

BAA says the roar of planes over south-west London has been minimised by changing landing paths on a weekly basis. A spokesman said: "We realise night flights are a source of annoyance. However a number of steps have been taken to address the issue, including minimising arrivals before 4.30am."

However, Mr Byers acknowledged, in his decision to approve a fifth terminal at Heathrow, that night flights are a "considerable concern" for people living near the airport.

The Government has pledged to consult by next year on extending the hours of night flight restrictions - at the moment only 16 flights are permitted between 11.30pm and 6am, but the hour from 6am until 7am sees both runways open to incoming flights, leading to heavy traffic over parts of London.

Engineer Barbara Dancer, of Bruel & Kjaer, which makes the equipment the Standard used, endorsed the methodology of its study, adding: " Noises seem louder at night because there is a greater gap between background noise and a sudden louder sound.

"At 11am, you have general noise from traffic, but at the dead of night the levels are lower, so sound which may seem tolerable during the day is exaggerated at night."

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