Gatwick will be sold after a monopoly watchdog ordered BAA to break its stranglehold on British airports.

The Competition Commission will today order the firm to sell both Gatwick and Stansted airports, as well as Glasgow or Edinburgh.

Gatwick has already been put up for sale and BAA is now expected to drop its objection to the sale of Stansted in Essex.

The commission's earlier interim reports into BAA, which runs seven UK airports including Heathrow, have been highly critical of the performance of the Spanish-owned company.

The commission said it had found competition problems at each of the BAA airports, which also include Southampton and Aberdeen.

Last December Christopher Clarke, chairman of the inquiry wrote:

"Under the common ownership of BAA, there is no competition.

"Under separate ownership, the airport operators, including BAA, will have a much greater incentive to be far more responsive to their customers, both airlines and passengers."

In an earlier report - last August - Mr Clarke spoke of BAA's "lack of responsiveness to the needs of its airline customers and a lack of initiative in planning capacity".

He went on: "This has resulted in investment that is not tailored to the requirements of airport users and lower levels and quality of service for both airlines and passengers."

BAA has been particularly under fire for its performance at Heathrow where passengers have complained of baggage problems and long queues.

BAA, together with British Airways, has also had to take its share of the blame for the disastrous opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 a year ago.