Renewed calls for tighter safety have been made following recent near misses involving aircraft over Essex.

David Williams, chairman of the parish council at Navestock, near Brentwood, is demanding that a new air traffic control system is installed: "The new air traffic control system being introduced at Swanage is a move forward but we need assurances that this computer-controlled system will have inbuilt safeguards to ensure that near-misses of the type seen in the last couple of years are not repeated," he said.

The added concern comes after London Stansted airport announced that it is to expand over the next five years - meaning Essex skies look set to become even busier.

The area's air lanes already have planes from Heathrow, Stansted, as well as from smaller air fields such as North Weald, Stapleford Abbotts and Southend.

Cllr Williams believes that large planes flying less than 100ft apart are ''a disaster waiting to happen.''

''The last thing we want to see is the local emergency disaster plan being put into action in our parish because of a mid-air collision,'' he added.

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