Natural England advises councillors against any decision on £150m Leeds Bradford Airport expansion plans

The non-departmental public body has said it needs to see assessments on issues including aviation noise, air quality and bird strike - collisions between birds and aircrafts - before it can give its final verdict.

Its initial response has been lodged as part of the consultation into £150m plans for a new three-storey terminal building, close to the proposed airport (LBA) parkway rail station. The proposals also include increasing allowed daytime flight times from 7am-11pm to 6am-11.30pm.

In a section on a Habitats Regulations Assessment submitted by the applicants, Natural England notes: "On the basis of information provided, Natural England advises that there is currently not enough information to rule out the likelihood of significant effects.

"Natural England therefore advises that your authority should not grant planning permission at this stage."

As the consultation period closes today (July 7), campaigners opposing the expansion pointed to this line as evidence that the environmental body was seeking a rethink on the plans.

Chris Foren, who chairs the anti-airport expansion campaign group GALBA, said: “Natural England have basically said that LBA haven’t bothered to assess the damage that their expansion plans would do to wildlife and nature.

"When you read the report, it’s full of polite but firm requests for LBA to go away and re-write their planning application.”

But a spokesman for the airport said it was "deliberately misleading" of those opposed to the expansion to make such a claim on the back of a routine request for further evidence.