People living in four counties are opposed to the airport plans

Campaigners fighting to block multi-million pound expansion plans for Wolverhampton Business Airport say they are prepared to take their battle to court.

Members of Wolverhampton Action Airport Group (WAAG) have this week had a written constitution approved by solicitors.

The document means the voluntary group is now an official organisation that can take legal action as a recognised body.

It means that any attempt to expand the airport could be blocked or held up for years in the courts.

If we are forced to go to court to fight any plans, we will Gordon Drury, WAAG

The airport's owners hope to handle as many as eight million passengers each year by putting on budget holiday flights.

There are fears among villagers living near the site at Halfpenny Green, Bobbington, Staffordshire, that the planned expansion would create an airport to rival Birmingham International.

The plans have been met with anger from people living in four counties - Shropshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands.

Gordon Drury, chairman of the Claverley branch of WAAG, said it is an important step for the group.

"Having a constitution means we can take legal action as an official body in our own right.

8,000 protesters

"If we are forced to go to court to fight any plans, we will."

Protesters from Claverley, Bobbington, Wombourne, Kinver and other villages and towns nearby have already begun action to block the plans, which they feel will ruin their quality of life.

Around 1,000 people attended a protest meeting in Wombourne last weekend and up to 8,000 people are expected to encircle the airport at midday on 29 June.

The demonstration will take place the day before final submissions must be handed in to the government by the airport's owners.