Image: PA
Campaigners have lost a High Court challenge against the government's decision to approve plans for a third runway at London's Heathrow airport.
Five councils, residents, environmental charities and London Mayor Sadiq Khan brought the action after MPs backed the plans in June.
The campaigners said the runway would effectively create a "new airport", having a "severe" impact on Londoners.
But judges rejected the arguments, ruling the plans were lawful.
The case was brought against the transport secretary by five local authorities in London affected by the expansion - Hillingdon, Wandsworth, Richmond, Hammersmith & Fulham and Windsor and Maidenhead.
Residents and charities including Greenpeace, Friends Of The Earth and Plan B also joined the action.
They argued that the government's National Policy Statement (NPS), setting out its support for the project, failed to account fully for the impact on air quality, climate change, noise and congestion.
Outlining the case on behalf of campaigners, Nigel Pleming QC had said the plans could see the number of passengers using the airport rise to an estimated 132 million - an increase of 60%.
The ruling means the government will not have to devise a new NPS and put it to another vote in Parliament.
It won its first vote by a comfortable majority of 296 after Labour MPs were granted a free vote.
The decision to expand Heathrow follows almost half a century of indecision on how and where to add new airport capacity in south-east England.
Under the current £14bn plan, construction could begin in 2021, with the third runway operational by 2026.
source: BBC News