A PLAN to extend activities at Kemble Airfield has angered residents in nearby villages who are worried about increased noise.

Airfield representatives have denied claims that an application to use the airfield for driving training and testing and corporate and public events will have an effect on noise.

But residents in areas of Oaksey are already angry at the amount of noise from the airfield, and both Oaksey and Crudwell parish councils have expressed their concern that increased use of the airfield is going to intensify air and land traffic and cause serious disruption.

Bob Polley, 50, of Woodlands, near Oaksey, said he had been disturbed by noise from the airfield. He urged people to fight the plan.

He said: "Aircraft fly as low as 500 and 600 feet directly overhead and the noise is so bad you can't sit out in your garden.

"People are having difficulty selling their house because of the problem.

"We have been here six years and it was never a problem until recently.

"That is why everybody is so vociferous about the planning application, as it is our only opportunity to comment."

The airfield has just been awarded airfield of the year by readers of Flyer Magazine and Kemble estates manager Lee Paul, said the noise pollution would not increase.

He said: "The application is non aviation based and should make no difference to the level of aircraft traffic.

"Most of our previous corporate events have been non-aviation based and there won't be films liked James Bond filmed at the airfield with lots of articulated lorries passing through.

Wiltshire County Council chairman, Carole Soden, who lives near Crudwell, said: "Local residents have no objection provided the airfield is environmentally friendly.

"What seems to be happening is an increase in those applications that increase noise and traffic in areas like Crudwell, which has enough traffic coming through.

"If Kemble Airfield could just communicate with local people they could come to some sort of compromise.

"Some people are very upset they haven't been able to have their say."

But Mr Paul refuted that there had been no consultation with communities in the area.

He said the airfield had listened to the local's views.

"We have listened to the views and concerns of residents and we have taken out car-based activities on Saturday and Sunday and have put time and noise restrictions on them," he said.

But Mr Polley said if those who ran events and activities at the airfield could move the flight path to between Oaksey and Woodlands fewer people would be disturbed.

He said: "We don't want to move the problem on but if the flight path was not over our head it wouldn't be so bad. There are pilots in the village who said it shouldn't be a problem."

Airfield manager David Burgess said flight patterns around Kemble were a matter of balancing the safety of pilots and people with noise concerns.

He said: "The problem with noise is if we move from one place it becomes a problem elsewhere.

"We have air patterns that indicate noise sensitive areas. But at the end of the day it is up to pilots to avoid these areas.

"We have recently talked to all resident flying clubs and have increased the number of these areas. We will have to wait and see if this has an effect."