Extra aircraft flying over Wandsworth and Putney must be a figment of people's imagination, airport bosses insist.

The News has received a steady stream of letters and e-mails from readers claiming flight paths have been changed so that planes always fly over the borough. And Putney MP Tony Colman has been sent a petition urging action.

But BAA at Heathrow says although there was a three-week period when flight routes changed, everything is now back to normal.

BAA has admitted work on new navigation equipment meant aircraft had to land on Heathrow's southern runway, increasing noise over Wandsworth for three weeks.

That work has now finished. However, in a letter from Wandsworth resident Philip Treloar, he states it is still impossible to sleep after 5am: "Huge numbers of homes are suddenly blighted by this spreading of the flight paths all over previously unaffected densely populated areas.''

He added: "We moved from a house nearer the Thames to our present address and one of the main reasons was to move out from under the flight path."

Now he has written to Tony Colman to urge him to take action. The MP said he is still trying to set up a meeting with the aviation minister.

David Radcliffe, from the Putney Society, said: "There can be no doubt whatsoever that over the past two months there's been a definite increase.''

But a BAA spokesman said data proves this is not the case, except when visibility is bad.

"It's a mystery. Perhaps people are noticing aircraft more since September 11."

November 6, 2001 17:00