Hounslow Council has accused Gordon Brown of ‘greenwash’ after he gave his public backing to plans to expand Heathrow.

Just days after launching a public consultation into plans to build a third runway at Heathrow and replace runway alternation with mixed mode, Gordon Brown spoke out in favour of expansion saying that Britain’s economic prosperity depends on it.

But the council issued a strongly worded response refuting the prime minister’s claims that expansion could be delivered without a significant increase in noise and air pollution.

Cllr Barbara Reid, the council’s lead member for aviation said: “For the PM to present the biggest programme of airport expansion the UK has ever seen as environmentally responsible is utter ‘greenwash’.

“It is obvious to anyone that doubling the capacity of Heathrow will mean more planes, more noise and more pollution.

“Expanding Heathrow could lead to a plane flying over London every 30 seconds at peak times which will mean more noise and more misery for more people.

“The government’s own research has shown that over 2 million people will be affected by aircraft noise from Heathrow and the World Development Movement claims that a third runway way could produce as much CO2 per year as Kenya.

“Yet Gordon Brown seems determined to turn a deaf ear to the additional noise and pollution that expansion will bring, even when opposition is so widespread.

“Around 90% of Hounslow residents say ‘no’; nearly 80% of London businesses say ‘no’; the majority of London MPs say ‘no’ and the Mayor of London says ‘no’.

“Everyone wants Heathrow to be an economic and environmental success but the way to achieve that is to make it better not bigger. To claim that it is possible to nearly double the capacity of Heathrow in a sustainable way is environmentally irresponsible.”

“The PM may be determined to turn a deaf ear on the concerns of our residents but he is about to find out that opposition to expansion is just like Heathrow – very big and very noisy.”

The prime minister also announced government plans to streamline the planning process to speed up the construction of controversial projects such as the third runway.

The news has angered anti-expansion campaigners, as did the comments of the Transport Secretary, Ruth Kelly, who claimed last week that noise pollution from Heathrow has fallen dramatically in the past 20 to 30 years.