The health fears associated with living under the Heathrow flightpath are well documented, but it is now making Hounslow residents "thick", according to one campaigner.

The ongoing saga surrounding the expansion of Heathrow Airport took another turn after it was claimed that children are not setting their sights high enough because working at the airport is an easy option.

Hounslow resident John Murphy, a campaigner for 18 years, said: "The expansion plans are ridiculous and I'm not convinced that our workforce benefits. If anything, it is encouraging kids to put in less effort at school because they know they can get jobs working as cleaners or scrubbing dishes at Heathrow, which need little or no qualifications."

Andrew Wolstenholme, capital projects director of BAA, said, "We aim to provide first-class learning resources to add real value to the curriculum in local schools.

"Our new Heathrow: Careers and Economy resource pack has been designed to bring learning alive for local students."

Heathrow is the largest single site employer in the UK with over 70,000 people working at the airport. Over 30,000 airport staff live locally and many of the young people currently studying at local schools will work at Heathrow in the future.

At a health meeting at the Civic Centre earlier this month, Councillor Barbara Reid, Hounslow's lead member for aviation issues, called for the Government to undertake a health impact assessment on the health of Hounslow residents.

She said: "The Government is preparing to embark on the biggest programme of airport expansion this country has ever seen and yet it has no idea what damage this will do to the health of millions of people living under flightpaths in the UK."