THE people of Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth need to be better represented in the campaign against a new runway at Stansted.

At the Stop Stansted Expansion public meeting on Thursday, Colleen Morrison, from Old Harlow, thanked the committee for its hard work but said more needed to be done to represent the people living in terraced and semi-detached houses who were also affected by BAA's plans.

She said: "We've got to bring this campaign into the 21st century and we must unify the community. But we won't do that until we bring in the people of Harlow, Bishop's Stortford and Sawbridgeworth who don't identify themselves with the campaign at the moment because they don't see themselves reflected in it."

Stansted MP Sir Alan Haselhurst and Bishop's Stortford MP Mark Prisk were quick to point out that 35,000 signatures had been gathered in protest against the proposed second runway. But they and the Stop Stansted Expansion group admitted more could always be done.

Campaign chairman Norman Mead said the campaign was not just about affluent NIMBYs, saying: "I lived for 18 years in a semi-detached property in Harlow and I still live in a semi. We are not all grey NIMBYs here, living in chocolate-box houses."

Campaign executive committee member Maggie Sutton said there was need for the whole community to work together in fighting expansion plans.

She said: "We all have to come together, everybody in Bishop's Stortford, Harlow and Sawbridgeworth. We want people to phone the SSE office and suggest things and help with our fundraising."