When she was 6, Lorna Newman and her friends played in the fields now occupied by the two runways of the world’s busiest airport.

Seventy years on, she can walk only with the help of crutches but she travelled from her home near Heathrow yesterday to take part in the first direct action against the airport’s expansion by people living under the flightpath.

Ms Newman was one of a dozen residents who confronted Douglas Alexander, the Transport Secretary, as he arrived at an airline industry conference at Chatham House, Central London. Several of them managed to storm past security, occupy the stage and interrupt Mr Alexander’s speech.

Ms Newman was unable to make it down the stairs to the hall but she and others took up position at the entrance to catch Mr Alexander as he left. Sadly for them, he was ushered out of a back door and sped away in a waiting car.

John Hunt, of Isleworth, led the charge on to the stage and delivered a speech denouncing the Government’s plans for a third runway at Heathrow before being escorted away by a security guard.

Speaking afterwards, he said that he and many other residents were prepared to risk arrest in their campaign to block the airport’s expansion. “It’s not just the noise from the planes but all the air pollution from the huge amount of traffic attracted by the airport. We are going to force the Government to listen to us.”

Ms Newman said she resented people who believed that Heathrow residents did not deserve sympathy because they had chosen to buy houses close to an airport. “I have lived there since before the airport ever existed. I remember Heathrow as a peaceful little place where the only sound was birds singing. My home has been blighted for 60 years and now they want to rob us of the little bit of respite we get from the worst aircraft noise.”

She was referring to the unwritten agreement by the airport not to allow flights to take off over Cranford, the village at the eastern end of the northern runway where she lives. The Government wants to cancel the agreement, which dates from the 1950s, in order to allow another 60,000 flights a year at Heathrow.

Maggie Thorburn, who has lived in Isleworth for 50 years, said: “We were told Terminal 4 was the very last expansion and then came Terminal 5. When Terminal 5 got planning permission, we were promised that would be it and flight numbers would be capped. Now the Government is backtracking yet again, supporting plans to demolish hundreds of homes to build a third runway. But Mr Alexander should be warned — we have had enough and we are rising up.”

More than 40 residents have attended training sessions organised by Plane Stupid, an antiaviation group that specialises in direct action. The residents are believed to have drawn up plans for disrupting Heathrow if the airport’s expansion wins final approval. One proposal is to use a convoy of cars to block the road tunnels leading to Terminals 1, 2 and 3.

Mr Alexander remained silent while the protesters were in the hall. After they had been removed, he said the Government would ensure that residents were consulted fully about any expansion plans.

Airport history

— The airport is named after the hamlet of Heath Row, where Victorian market gardeners produced fruit and vegetables. Terminal 3 is on the site of the hamlet

— A private airfield was built in the 1930s on land sold by the vicar of Harmondsworth

— Heathrow came under the control of the Ministry of Air in 1944. It opened for civilian use in 1946

— In its first year, Heathrow handled 60,000 passengers

— In 1952 the de Havilland Comet arrived

— BOAC and other long-haul operators moved to the “Oceanic Building”, now Terminal 3, in the 1960s

Source: BAA; Heathrow at 60 by Alan Gallop

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