A SLEEP IN' protest staged over a possible increase in night flights at Heathrow Airport was joined by Susan Kramer, Lib Dem prospective parliamentary candidate for Richmond Park.

The protest took place outside the Thistle Hotel in Victoria last Friday where the Department of Transport were holding a consultation exercise about night flights at which no residents directly affected by their plans had been invited to speak.

Susan Kramer said: "It is ironic that airlines are putting beds on their planes to allow long haul passengers to get a good night's sleep, whilst showing a total disregard for the rights of people living under the flight path to have the same privilege.

"Sleeping is a basic human right. It is about time that the government and the aviation industry wake up to this fact and take some notice of people living under the flight path."

Richmond upon Thames Council is bracing itself for a fresh battle. They say the government is planning to continue the existing night flights regime for at least another five years.

And they plan to carry out a consultation this spring on future night flying restrictions.

Although the government's view is that a ban on night flying is impractical, Richmond council will continue to press hard.

Night flights could increase and bring more misery for people living under the flight paths, the council fear.

The government is considering scrapping the existing limit on numbers and moving to a quota system based only on the noise certificate of the aircraft.

This would allow airlines to operate more night flights without going over their noise quotas by using the quietest planes.