The Government has been accused of hiding the fact that flights over homes in the borough will dramatically increase if a third Heathrow runway is built.

Examination of Heathrow expansion consultation documents shows communities under flight paths would be flown over for about 75 per cent of the day if the airport is expanded.

Currently planes fly over these areas about 50 per cent of the time.

Richmond Council criticised the Department for Transport (DfT) for failing to mention this in its consultation booklet, recently delivered to more than a million homes.

It said it feared the negative impacts of a third runway will not be communicated effectively with residents.

Lord True, the leader of Richmond Council, said: “The leaflet that was sent out last week it propaganda in its finest. And, the more we read into the full consultation material the more concerned we are at the Government’s selective presentation of the third runway’s impacts.

“They should be proactively informing flight path communities about major changes like the loss of daytime respite periods but that’s not been their approach.

“In the next few weeks there will be a number of resident consultation events, coordinated by the Department of Transport. I urge all concerned people to go and have their say and let the government know if they are not giving the information we need.”

A spokesman for the DfT said the Government is considering a ban of six and a half hours on scheduled night flights, and repeated its commitment to providing a “world class” compensation for affected communities.

He said: ““We are acutely aware of the impact that aircraft noise has on people living close to flightpaths.

“(The compensation package) will include noise insulation for homes and schools and improvements to public facilities.”

Richmond Council, along with Wandsworth, Hillingdon, Windsor and Maidenhead councils, are still examining the consultation material in detail.

Residents who wish to receive updates from the cross-borough coalition can sign up at www.richmond.gov.uk/heathrow