A legal agreement stops the runway being built before 2019

Gatwick Area Conservation Campaign (GACC) said it would be asking BAA to withdraw its plan in the light of growing concern about climate change.

Earlier this month, BAA published an interim master plan for the West Sussex airport following public consultation.

It remained committed to an agreement not to build a new runway before 2019.

The interim master plan replaces the outline proposal, originally published in March 2005, which said the new runway would only go ahead if a planned third runway at Heathrow failed to be developed by about 2015.

Two scenarios

The new plan is substantially similar, according to BAA, and estimates 40m passengers a year will be using Gatwick by 2015.

It then considers two scenarios for 2030 - one with a single runway and another with the second runway in place.

"The new runway is designed to more than double the number of flights when the government, and today the Stern Report, say we must take action on climate change," said GACC chairman Brendon Sewill.

"A new runway would more than double Gatwick's level of CO2 emissions."

BAA has said its final master plan will be updated to reflect the outcome of a number of local studies, including the Crawley Local Development Framework and the future of the Gatwick Express rail service.