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SSE (Stop Stansted Expansion) campaigners are disappointed to have lost their High Court battle to halt the plans for the expansion of Stansted airport. BAA, the authority which runs Stansted, wants passenger numbers to rise from 25 million a year to 35 million and flights from the airport to increase from 241,000 to 264,000 a year.

Their legal argument was based on the premise that the government had failed to take proper account of “adverse effects” when it gave the go-ahead for the expansion. SSE spokesman, Paul Stinchcombe, told High Court judge, Sir Thayne Forbes, that the government had not taken into consideration the effect on UK trade, the noise levels and the environmental effects, despite the fact that it had previously agreed that it should take these factors into consideration.

The judge dismissed the argument, refused the right to appeal and ordered the group to pay £20,000 costs.

Nick Barton, commercial and development director of Stansted airport, said that the news was great for the millions of people who want to fly from the Essex airport, whether on business or for pleasure, the thousands of people who work there, and the businesses across the region which depend on the airport.

The Department of Transport has also welcomed the decision, saying that runway space is so scarce in the south east that it makes sense to make optimum use of what is already available.

BAA would like to open a second runway and a public enquiry is due to start next month.