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Third Heathrow airport runway 'could be built over M25'

A third runway at Heathrow could be built over the M25, the Transport Secretary has said.

It comes after Theresa May's decision to back Heathrow expansion plunged the Conservatives into turmoil, as Cabinet ministers hit out at the move and a prominent MP quit.

Tory supporting councils are poised to support legal action challenging the plans and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson insisted the scheme was "undeliverable".

Conservative bosses were forced to announce the party would not fight the by-election triggered by Zac Goldsmith in protest over the third runway.

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Government confirms £17.6bn Heathrow third runway

The Heathrow expansion plans pledge to generate about 77,000 new jobs by 2030. Credit: PA

The Government has confirmed it has chosen to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport as its preferred airport expansion project.

The Department for Transport announced the £17.6 billion project after a Cabinet meeting of the airport sub-committee chaired by Prime Minister Theresa May.

The other shortlisted options - to extend an existing runway at Heathrow or build a second runway at Gatwick - were rejected in favour of a decision that will see more than 780 homes demolished in west London.

Fierce opponents of Heathrow expansion within Cabinet, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Education Secretary Justine Greening, will both speak out at the decision after being cleared by Mrs May to air their dissent.

The Government announcement ends more than a year of uncertainty since the Davies Commission came out in favour of Heathrow's third runway.

A public consultation will be held on the impact of the expansion before the final decision is put to MPs for a vote in the winter of 2017/18, with the runway unlikely to be in use before 2025.

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Third Heathrow airport runway 'could be built over M25'

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