Medway Council leader Rodney Chambers has written to new MPs to gather support for a campaign against plans for the development of a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

Under proposals put forward by London mayor Boris Johnson a six-runway airport would be developed off the Essex and Kent coast at a cost of £40bn to help meet air travel demands. Medway Council, together with Kent County Council and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), have teamed up in a bid to see off the mayor's plans and are now seeking further support.

Chambers said: "Now that we've had a general election, and there are a number of new Members of Parliament, it is a good opportunity to seek even more support than we already have in our campaign. "I am writing to the MPs who representative those areas that would be affected by an estuary airport to encourage them to join me in opposing this pie in the sky scheme."