Campaigners opposing the expansion of Luton Airport were told on Monday night that they can win their fight if they work together.
Residents gathered at Breachwood Green village hall were given tips by Heathrow campaigner John Stewart on how to fight the plans to grow the airport to 18 million passengers a year.
He told them they needed to set the agenda in their battle with the airport, and could consider tactics such as flashmobbing the airport or direct action on the runway.
“For each campaign the answer is different,” he said.
The meeting was arranged by campaign groups HALE, LANAG and LADACAN.
LANAG’s Peter Hunt told the audience the area would see 60 per cent more aircraft movements and twice as many night flights.
“It could be only four or five years away,” he said.
There are already 2,900 signatures on a petition to have the application decided at government level, rather than by Luton Borough Council, the applicant.
But the chief executive of the Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce, Cheryl Smart, has branded the campaigners “NIMBYs”, after HALE called recent positive consultation results on the airport expansion “misleading”.