IF you went down to the woods on Monday, you d have been sure of a big surprise! School children from Breachwood Green were scurrying around dressed as small woodland creatures and holding placards to protest against Luton Airport expansion. Alongside the

IF you went down to the woods on Monday, you'd have been sure of a big surprise!

School children from Breachwood Green were scurrying around dressed as small woodland creatures and holding placards to protest against Luton Airport expansion.

Alongside their parents, the children were representing the wildlife they fear will suffer from the proposed new runway by "giving the animals a voice."

Also on side were representatives from the Woodland Trust, who were visiting the area to inspect threatened woods.

Chris Nickolay, Breachwood Green resident and member of CARE (Campaign Against Runway Expansion) helped organise the protest.

He said: "It was a great success, lots of children and their parents turned up.

"The little ones wore masks of woodland creatures and the bigger children held big A2-sized posters of animals."

The children got into the spirit of things and enjoyed being mice, badgers, moles and other creatures for the afternoon but, on a more serious note, the Luton Airport public consultation period ends on Friday January 27.

After this, the airport's operators will submit their revised plan to the Government and begin planning applications.

Mr Nickolay does not plan on stopping there however.

He said: "It's not going to be quiet at all, we're going to work on bringing all the various campaign groups together and carry on campaigning.