Residents near Gatwick could face an “unbearable” amount of noise if the airport opens a second runway, a campaign group has claimed.

Environmental group Communities Against Gatwick Noise and Emissions (CAGNE) claim those living near the airport will face a “never-ending stream of departures”, with double the noise at peak times.

A recent report by the group also warned of the potential for increased noise on the ground through extra taxiing of aircraft and increased traffic on roads.

Chairwoman of the group Sally Pavey said: “There seem to be very few benefits for those on the ground as Gatwick uses the government’s modernisation of airspace to inflict even greater suffering for communities.

“With the government’s modernisation of airspace, Gatwick proposes flying over those that have not bought a home under a flight path, offering no compensation for the devaluing of homes and quality of life as policy allows.

“A second runway offers no let-up for these residents - in fact, the management of the airport is being disingenuous, having already sought new airspace for a two-runway airport via the government’s modernisation of airspace. This could see communities impacted by concentrated flight paths to accommodate nearly 100,000 extra flights a year.”

Gatwick has described the claims made by CAGNE as “inaccurate” and said no new flight paths would be needed as part of the northern runway plans.

A spokesman for the airport said: “Our northern runway plans would deliver 14,000 new UK-based jobs and inject £1 billion into the economy of South East England every year.

“Our plans would also benefit many communities across the region by providing new economic and business opportunities as well as benefits for tourism and international trade.

“We recognise the climate emergency and the need for the whole aviation industry to act to reach net zero by 2050. To that end, we accelerated our plans to achieve net zero for airport emissions by 2030 and will invest over £250 million so that we achieve this ten years ahead of our previous target.

“The government is also committed to working with airlines to ensure they meet a trajectory of reducing carbon emissions to get to net zero through measures including airspace modernisation, sustainable aviation fuel, electric, hydrogen and hybrid aircraft and setting carbon budgets for airlines.”