A Sussex MP has finally nailed her colours to the mast and come out in favour of a second runway at Gatwick - a move her own party opposes.

Laura Moffatt, who represents Crawley, made the announcement just three days before the government consultation period on the issue expires.

Meanwhile, as pictured here, members of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign waved placards yesterday during a rally in Rusper.

Mrs Moffatt has been dodging stating her position for weeks and had left important public meetings before votes had been cast. She was also not present when her own constituency Labour party in Crawley voted against any expansion at the airport.

But the MP has defended her decision to bide her time before revealing her position.

She released an eight-page document to the Press, a full seven and a half pages longer than most of her usual media releases.

In it she says that she has considered the matter carefully before throwing her weight behind a single, close parallel runway to the south of the existing strip.

Mrs Moffatt said: "All options, other than a close parallel runway at Gatwick should be ruled out.

"All measures should be used to fully utilise the existing runway then, only when the runway is predicted to be full, a close parallel runway should be considered."

She said adequate resources into proper ground access must be in place before development, the current housing shortage in and around Crawley must be addressed and also called for robust health services to meet the needs of a growing population in the town.

The MP added: "Without these provisions I believe that expansion at Gatwick should not be considered, but if these qualifications are firmly put in place then a second, close parallel runway should be considered at Gatwick after the expiry of the 2019 legal agreement."

Meanwhile, the Gatwick Airport Consultative Committee, meeting yesterday afternoon, also delivered its verdict rejecting the two-runway option.

But, the response adds that if the environmental impacts are 'contained and minimised' and the necessary infrastructure put in place, a further runway would be possible, but only with further consultation with the dedicated stakeholders.

Chairman Peter Bryant clarified the issue. He said: "The essence of our argument is this; if they can meet the challenges we have put forward then we would like more discussion."

Protesters held 80 placards to show support for their fight against expansion at Gatwick.

Members of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign held the protest at Rusper yesterday.

Anti-runway campaigner Brendon Sewill said: "We wanted to illustrate visually the fact 80 councils and environment groups have declared their opposition to a new runway at Gatwick."

Groups represented included West Sussex County Council, Crawley Borough Council, and dozens of parish councils and environment groups.

Mr Sewill said all the groups represented had written to the Government to object to plans to expand the airport.