TAXPAYERS could face huge bills if the Heathrow third runway expansion goes ahead, campaigners warned today after the government confirmed it would consider funding the project.

A cross-party group of MPs wrote to Transport Secretary Mark Harper in July following concerns that the public would have to pay for the expansion, which the government previously said would be funded by the private sector, if it was to go ahead.

Mr Harper’s department responded that the government “will consider whether it will make a contribution to certain works which have wider public benefits.”