A group of councils is to launch a legal challenge against the Government's approval to build a third £14 billion runway at Heathrow Airport.

The coalition of local authorities have formally notified the Secretary of State for Transport, Chris Grayling, that they intend to seek a judicial review of the decision to approve the infrastructure scheme.

The group comprises of the London Boroughs of Hillingdon, Wandsworth, Richmond, Windsor and Maidenhead Council, and Hammersmith and Fulham, as well as Mayor Sadiq Khan and environmental group Greenpeace

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The council's claim the Government has misunderstood and misapplied the law on air quality, while on surface access the local authorities said the National Policy Statement fails to recognise the scale of the challenge to accommodate additional trips without unacceptable effects on the transport network and unacceptable effects from traffic pollution.

Richmond Council Leader, Gareth Roberts, said: "The Government has misunderstood and misapplied the law on air quality despite having been taken to court and lost many times. Its decision in favour of the third runway should therefore be quashed."

Wandsworth Council Leader Ravi Govindia added: "The councils have shown extraordinary patience. We have given the Government numerous opportunities to address our concerns and answer our questions. All the evidence shows that a new Heathrow runway will be bad for the environment in our boroughs and bad for the health of our residents."

(LM)