< A PRIMARY school could be forced to close if Southend Airport expands, a senior governor has said.

Blenheim Primary School, in Leigh, is underneath the flightpath for planes taking off and landing at the airport.

Al Smulian, a governor at the school in Blenheim Chase, said teachers already had to stop their lessons while planes flew over because of the noise, and he feared if more and larger planes were flying in and out, the school may have to move or close.

He said: “Even now, the situation can be bad when aircarft are flying over.

“The teachers have to stop talking as the pupils cannot hear them. The aircraft also go overhead very low.

“With the small number of flights at the moment, it isn’t a major problem. But it could easily be one if the airport increases to two million passengers a year, as is being proposed.”

Mr Smulian said a more serious worry was the extension of the airport safety zone, which would limit school expansion.

The Government has recognised the risk to people on the ground close to airports, and says development should be controlled in order to limit or reduce the number of people living or working in such areas, which are known as public safety zones.

Mr Smulian, a former Lib Dem Essex county councillor, added: “I am extremely concerned about this, as it would effectively mean the school would not be able to expand at all, or accommodate any more pupils. With the anticipated increase in the birthrate and the number of primary school-age children, this would place the school in a very difficult situation.

“The school certainly has not got that sort of money available, and I doubt if Southend Council has it either.

“In my opinion, if the school had to be rebuilt, then the work should be paid for by the airport developers themselves.

“I’m worried with these potential problems in the future, the school could be forced to close.”

Leigh Lib Dem councillor Alan Crystall said he also had concerns about what would happen to the school.

“It would not be possible to take the extra 200 pupils identified in the council’s future plans, and there would have to be a look at the funding issue.”

Alastair Welch, managing director of Southend Airport, disputed the claims.

He said: “The noise heard by someone standing outside Blenheim Primary in 2020 if the runway was not extended is assessed at 56 decibels.

“If the runway was extended and the passenger projections were reached, it is assessed the noise would be 58 decibels. This is less than half the noise level at which a noise insulation grant is recommended by Government guidelines.

“While the rules around what a public safety zone actually means are complex, we do not believe this should prevent the school from progressing as planned over the coming years.”