LONG Newton Parish Council has turned on Durham Tees Valley Airport in a bitter row over road safety improvements on the A66.

Council chairman, Coun David Williams, has written to the airport's managing director, Hugh Lang, to say the parish council will actively oppose all future development at the airport and is to launch a campaign to discourage potential users.

The move follows the Government's postponement of the new interchange on the A66 at Long Newton. Work was expected to start this year but has been put back until 2008 at the earliest.

In his letter, Coun Williams says: "The village and parish council have long been staunch supporters of the airport expansion, believing it to be beneficial to the area for a whole range of social and economic reasons, but also because the expansion appeared to go hand in hand with the desperate need to reduce the fatalities and serious injuries caused at the A66 junctions and along Mill Lane.

"The airport's recent increase in flights has generated a significant corresponding increase in traffic through the village, with the obvious attendant rise in accidents and, sadly, most recently in yet another fatality of a local resident who had been returning from the airport.

"The parish council had until now - perhaps naively - believed that the support of the airport, and indeed other local agencies, would ensure the building of the new interchange to address the problem and significantly reduce traffic and accidents at the junctions and especially along Mill Lane.

"In short, this village and its neighbours have been duped for too long and direct action is now the only answer if lives are to be saved."

He said the parish council would write to all major travel companies pointing out the potential dangers of the road network around the airport's eastern fringe and requesting they advise all would-be airport users of the possible dangers.

The proposed link bus from Darlington will be targeted with leaflets expressing concerns and asking for assistance in boycotting the airport. A "Fly then Die?" poster campaign is also under review.

Coun Williams said: "The power of adverse internet publicity will not be overlooked and all options within the law will be considered."

He added: "The airport has a huge role to play in all our futures, and unless it brings its considerable weight to bear in support of a return to the 2005 start date for the interchange building to begin - or raises money from elsewhere to fund the project independently - the future prosperity of the airport must be held in serious doubt."

Mr Lang told the D&S Times he was taken aback by the parish council's letter and hoped to talk the matter over with members.

He said: "We are a bit confused, as we are supporting efforts to get the new interchange in every way. Now, all of a sudden, the airport expansion has been dragged in to the argument.

"We obviously need to sit down and discuss these issues with them. I am in the process of setting up consultation meetings with all the parish councils. There needs to be clarification."

* Airport growth plans submitted: page 7