GOVERNMENT chiefs looking into proposals to extend a runway on the doorstep of Wyre Forest are turning a blind eye to environmental costs, an influential commons report has claimed.

MPs sitting on the Environmental Audit Committee said they were "astonished" at the Department of Transport's "overt bias" towards putting the profits of airlines first.

The DfT is currently considering a bid which would see Wolverhampton Airport, eight miles north of Kidderminster, expand one of its runways by 1,000 metres to take on a total of four million passengers a year.

But members of the EAC said such a bid would contribute to unacceptable levels of pollution which would "wipe out the economic case for an expansion of runways".

Instead, they added, DfT should put any immediate expansion plans on hold and look at making better use of Britain's airports - especially in London - as well as extra charges for airlines.

John Horam MP, who chaired the cross-party committee, said: "There is enough potential in existing airports to meet future demand if we make rather more realistic assumptions than the DfT has done.

"We cannot get away from the fact that airlines pay no tax on aviation fuel whereas 80 per cent of the price motorists pay goes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer."

The report recommended the Government weigh in against airlines with a tax on fuel and possibly VAT on tickets to scupper the popularity of cheap flights - which has spurred Wolverhampton Airport's bid.

And Mr Horam cast doubt over the DfT's predictions for the air travel market which have been the bedrock of Wolverhampton Airport's argument for a longer runway.

The DfT has predicted passenger numbers will rise from 180 million to 500 million a year by 2030. Mr Horam said: "They are assuming that air fares are going to go down by 40 per cent but they are already pretty low so it seems unlikely. It seems unrealistic to make these forecasts for vast growth."