Tory MPs confront Cameron over Thames Estuary airport

A Tory revolt broke out today over plans to build the world's biggest airport in the Thames Estuary.

Six MPs in north Kent joined forces to demand a showdown with David Cameron as the Government prepared to consult on the £50 billion project.

The MPs warned that the scheme, heavily backed by London's Mayor, would "devastate" the environment and have an "enormous effect" on people living nearby. One described it as "wrong for the environment, wrong for the economy, wrong for Kent and wrong for Britain".

Boris Johnson has hailed the project as "irresistible". He had previously called for an airport to be built on two floating islands near Whitstable, but recently praised designs by Lord Foster for a four-runway hub airport that could handle 150 million passengers a year with a 30-minute rail link to London.

The idea is set to be included in a consultation on Britain's aviation strategy due in the spring, after politicians ruled out building a third runway at Heathrow.

But the six Tory MPs - former ministerial aide Adam Holloway, Tracey Crouch, Mark Reckless, Gordon Henderson, Rehman Chishti and Gareth Johnson - urged Mr Cameron not to back it.

They told him: "If any such proposal were to go ahead it would have an enormous effect on the lives of hundreds of thousands of residents living in the wider Thames Estuary region and devastate an area of global environmental significance."

A Downing Street source said that Mr Cameron would be open to discussing the MPs' concerns.