NEWS that plans for a huge international airport near Pershore have been shelved were welcomed by Wychavon District Council this week.

Drakes Broughton was one of the sites being considered by the Government, but Wychavon's executive board heard that further inspections revealed only Church Lawford, between Rugby and Coventry, was being considered further.

Wychavon councillor Paul Middlebrough said the airport would have "destroyed" local communities.

"It would also have had huge implications for Worcester, Pershore and Evesham in terms of noise," he said.

"I was pretty horrified it met the criteria for an international airport one-and-a-half times the size of Heathrow and I'd like to know what the criteria for that were."

The Worcestershire site was shortlisted from an original list of 32 under consideration by the Department for Transport.

Councillors at Tuesday's executive board meeting also heard the Government was considering other options in the West Midlands, such as expanding Birmingham International Airport.