Anti-runway campaigners have written to a Government minister to warn a second strip at Gatwick would stir up widespread opposition.

Brendon Sewill, chairman of the Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign and a former Treasury advisor, wrote to Secretary of State for Transport Alistair Darling.

He said a recent consultation by Gatwick's owner, the British Airports Authority, had shown proposals for a second runway were opposed by the South East Regional Assembly, East and West Sussex county councils, all district and borough councils surrounding the airport and MPs including Laura Moffatt, Labour MP for Crawley.

He wrote: "The wide range of councils and MPs who are united in opposing a new runway are the democratic representatives of more than eight million people.

"It shows that, if the Gatwick runway ever became a real possibility, the opposition would be every inch as strong as that at Stansted." He called on the minister to rethink the Air Transport White Paper, which said London's airports had to expand to meet growing demand.