HEATHROW airport could become the centre of Britain’s second congestion charge zone under plans drawn up by the Department for Transport (DfT) to reduce pollution.

The toll would apply to all drivers near the airport, possibly including those simply passing by on the M4, the main west-bound motorway out of London.

The cost of the toll has not yet been decided but the plan looks at the impact of charges up to £10. It also predicts the impact of additional charges, ranging from £2 to £20, on all drivers entering the airport to collect or deliver passengers.

Another DfT proposal would see the section of the M4 that passes closest to the airport being enclosed in a tunnel so that traffic fumes can be trapped and chemically cleansed.

The draconian proposals, contained in a confidential briefing to MPs, are part of the DfT’s efforts to enable Heathrow to expand without further breaching European Union pollution directives. The airport already routinely exceeds permitted levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and other pollutants.

Terminal five will open in 2008 with the capacity to serve around 30m passengers a year in addition to the 68m already passing through the airport. But BAA, the airport’s owner, now wants further expansion including increased use of the two existing runways and construction of a third runway and a sixth passenger terminal.

This would involve the effective demolition of the villages of Sipson, Harlington and Harmondsworth, displacing around 10,000 people from their homes.

None of this can happen until the DfT finds a way to cut pollution, especially by NO2, which is produced by both jet and motor vehicle engines and provokes asthma and bronchitis attacks.

The 45-page DfT document, Project Heathrow, makes clear that it hopes its road measures will reduce pollution enough to allow ministers to approve BAA’s full expansion plans.

“These plans reflect the madness behind this drive for constant growth,” said John Stewart, of Hacan ClearSkies, a group that fights expansion at Heathrow. “More planes mean raised noise, increased pollution and soaring greenhouse gas emissions. Everyone suffers – except the profits of BAA and the airlines.”

The scale and complexity of the DfT proposals reflect the dilemma faced by officials. On the one hand they face censure, court hearings and fines by the European commission under a new antipollution directive that takes effect in 2010. On the other they are under pressure from BAA, airlines, London businesses and ministers to let the airport expand.

Since cutting aircraft movements is not an option, the DfT appears to have decided the best course is to restrict motor vehicles instead. This is likely to infuriate residents who say they will be required to pay a new congestion charge and cut their vehicle use so that BAA, now a Spanish-owned company, can expand its operations and profits.

The document suggests a £10 congestion charge could cut traffic on the M4 spur road into Heathrow by up to 75%.

John McDonnell, Labour MP for Hayes and Harlington, said: “I have people in my constituency who are being poisoned by these levels of fumes and now the government is trying to find ways of making things even worse.”

The DfT hopes to launch a public consultation into the proposals in the next few months.

BAA said it was planning a range of measures to help Heathrow become greener, including cycle routes around the airport and long-term secure cycle parking at terminal five.

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