A GOVERNMENT decision on the expansion of Gatwick could be delayed again – this time by the EU referendum.

The decision to choose between a second runway at Gatwick or a third runway at Heathrow could face further delay because of a Whitehall “log jam” caused by the June 23 referendum, according to The Evening Standard.

September is now being viewed as the earliest date for a new South East runway site to be chosen, although the competing bid teams may have to wait even longer than that.

Prime Minister David Cameron had previously pledged to have made a decision by the end of last year following the recommendation of the Heathrow option by the Davies Commission in summer 2015.

Gatwick bosses claim their rival bid is “undeliverable” while their project can be built for around £7.8 billion funded by its private owners without taxpayer assistance.

Airport bosses claim expanding the Sussex airport will attract new clusters of high intensity businesses creating 120,000 jobs while also creating more than 22,000 airport-related jobs by 2050 and contribute £1.73 billion per year to the local economy.

Gatwick chief executive Stewart Wingate claimed that the Government must redraft its air quality plan in the wake of a report uncovering diesel cars emitting far higher levels of nitrogen oxide. He said the findings were a “hammer blow” for Heathrow expansion because of existing air quality levels in the capital.