The Deputy Prime Minister should rule on airport expansion plans first if local planning authorities are too small to deal effectively with the proposals.

The call is made in a report, published today, by groups fighting airport expansion across the Midlands.

The groups, including those opposing expansion at Birmingham, Coventry and Wolverhampton Airports, have come together to produce the joint report, Managing Midlands' Air Transport Sustainability, which they hope will redress the balance in the aviation debate.

The call highlights the frustrations of those fighting the advent of passenger operations at Coventry Airport, which were first opposed by Warwick District Council before a conditional compromise was reached prior to a public inquiry opening next January.

The report calls the Government's Aviation White Paper - the 2003 plan which called for a second runway at BIA but left plans for Coventry and Wolverhampton up to " local determination" - fundamentally flawed in its predictions of future passenger demand.

The report concludes there is no need for new runways within the Midlands.

It states airports do not have a divine right to expand at will.

"Like other forms of development", the report adds, "they are subject to the planning system which is supposed to balance the advantages of expansion against the disadvantages, on behalf of society as a whole".

However, it also states: "We believe that some relatively small district councils are poorly resourced to deal with major airport expansion proposals with regional or national significance.

"In such cases, there is a strong argument for call-in of the proposal by the First Secretary of State for his own decision.

"If this happens, it is important that the decision is taken independently and not unduly influenced by the overtly pro-aviation stance of the Department for Transport.

Peter Langley, of the West Midlands Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, said: "This report blows apart many myths about air transport and shows how controlling growth in the number of flights benefits us all."

Chris Crean, from West Midlands Friends of the Earth, added: "A combination of strong planning regimes and fiscal measures can reign in this feather-bedded industry so it can mature to play its role in a modern economy that respects the finite limits of the planet and our responsibilities to future generations."