Jack Clark used to go poaching in the fields that are now occupied by the world’s busiest international airport.

He has lived in the village of Sipson for 81 years and for the past 60 of those years his end-terrace home has been 500 yards from Heathrow’s perimeter fence.

He remembers the bulldozers demolishing the neighbouring hamlet of Heath Row to make way for an RAF base during the closing stages of the Second World War.

Yet Mr Clark, 96, and his 50 racing pigeons lived relatively undisturbed while the airport and its terminals, hotels and access roads grew up around him.

The first inkling that he might not see out his days in Sipson came in 2002, when plans were published for a new runway through the heart of his village.

“Since then we have lived with the threat of eviction over us. I’ve no idea where I will go.”

More than 2,000 people live in the 700 homes that would be demolished if the Government approves the third runway and sixth terminal next month. Many of the homes, scattered along a back road to the airport, are showing signs of neglect.

For Linda and Terry McCutcheon, who have lived in Sipson for 42 years, the airport expansion would wipe out many places they hold dear: not just their home, but the cottage hospital where their sons were born, the play group Mrs McCutcheon founded and the school their sons attended.

They admit, however, that they would be better off than thousands in Harmondsworth, Harlington and West Drayton, who would have a runway on their doorsteps but none of the compensation BAA is offering to displaced Sipson residents Mr McCutcheon said the sense of community in the village had been deteriorating for several years, with three quarters of homes rented, many by low-paid casual staff working at the airport and nearby hotels.

“The older people in the village, such as my 86-year-old mother, will be worst affected,” Mrs McCutcheon said. “They know that leaving here will probably mean going into a home, and that frightens some. If push comes to shove, I will be sitting in front of the bulldozers.”

Mrs McCutcheon has written to the Queen asking her to visit Sipson. “I reminded her that her mother and father visited people who lost their homes in the Blitz. We’re facing a similar fate.”

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