An advertisement that claims a third runway at London’s Heathrow Airport would not make the airport noisier or dirtier has been ruled as misleading by the Advertising Standards Authoritity (ASA).

The ASA also deemed the advertisement as misleading to claim that the runway would not go ahead ”unless local air quality meets stringent EU standards on concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2)”.

The commercial had been published in regional newspapers by pro Heathrow expansion group Future Heathrow, and was published before the Government’s decision earlier this year to approve the runway.

The ASA reported than an unnamed MP had challenged the claims made by the ad.

The authority said airport operator BAA responded to the complaint on behalf of Future Heathrow, claiming that it was a ”statement of fact and that readers would be right to confidently understand that a third runway would definitely not create more noise or air pollution than Heathrow at present”.

The ASA said today that it found both claims to be misleading.

The authority also noted that both Future Heathrow and BAA believed that noise limits would not be breached, but the claim was impossible to prove until the construction of a third runway took place.

“We concluded that the claim ‘a third runway won’t make Heathrow any noisier or dirtier’ was likely to mislead.”

The ASA said the advert must not appear again in its current form.

Thanks to The Telegraph for the above quotes.  For more information on this article visit their website.