THOUSANDS of jobs and greater opportunity for millions of travellers were promised as plans were submitted for a second runway at Stansted Airport.

BAA bosses said their proposals would pave the way for more people to fly through Stansted each year than currently live in the UK, with annual passenger numbers expected to reach 68 million by 2030 compared to the present 24 million.

They promised to reduce the environmental impact of the move, which will see the destruction of fields, woodland and dozens of homes, by squashing the new 3,000-metre runway and terminal into 442 hectares, down from 700.

But they admitted there was no hard evidence that improvements to aeroplane technology in the coming decades would help reduce the increase in carbon emissions caused by doubling the number of flights.

Project director Alastair McDermid said the policy of world governments was for taxes paid by air passengers to fund the introduction of other energy-saving innovations that would lead to an overall reduction in pollution.

"The global issue of climate change is one which we take very seriously and is recognised as requiring international action," he said.

The lengthy "environmental statement" prepared in support of the plans, printed in 17 volumes on crisp white paper, must have had a small negative environmental impact of its own.

In it, BAA revealed a scheme to mitigate the effects of its proposals on the Essex countryside, by creating a 208-hectare nature reserve on adjoining land.