A consultation on the proposed expansion concludes on Wednesday. The government says the decision to build a third runway has been made in principle and the consultation relates primarily to the environmental impact.

"We don't view it as a done deal and we won't take it lying down," said Nicholson, chair of the No Third Runway Action Group. "The airport keeps on taking more and more and it has to stop somewhere."

Many local residents opposed the construction of the airport's fifth terminal, opening next month. Authorities told them when that was approved that there would be no third runway.

BAA says a sixth terminal is necessary to absorb the additional flights made possible by a third runway -- which would take several years to build.

Most affected by the current plans is the village of Sipson, where some 700 houses will be razed. Banners and posters dominate local windows, but some homes are already becoming rundown as owners cut back on all but essential maintenance.

ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND LOCALS

Homeowners such as 62-year-old McCutcheon, who has lived in the village more than four decades, will be compensated -- although they say money offered will not be enough to buy another home locally and they will have to move away.

"We made our lives here," she said. "Where else are we going to go? My uncle is in the next village and he doesn't have any children. We are the only ones who visit him."

Campaigners say the impact goes much further. Neighbouring villages will find the airport much closer to them, increasing noise to what some say will be intolerable levels.

Across southeast England -- particularly West London -- some 2 million people will find themselves under flightpaths, driving many to oppose expansion. A string of London councils and city mayor Ken Livingstone oppose the proposals.

"It's not just that we don't want it built here," said Nicholson, who says her house will be metres from the new runway and rendered uninhabitable. "We don't want it built anywhere."

Campaigners have been joined by an increasingly powerful environmental lobby who say expansion of British aviation makes a mockery of government plans to cut carbon emissions.

They include protesters from Greenpeace who broke into Heathrow on Monday and hung a protest banner on an aircraft.

If the plans go ahead they and local residents are likely to be in the forefront of direct action protests aimed at blocking bulldozers and hampering building.

"You may find a lot of law-abiding people become un-law-abiding," said Nicholson.