HE'S watched as the fields he used to farm turned into the world's busiest airport but never imagined it would cost him his home.

Sprightly Jack Clark, at 96 one of the few people who remembers life before Heathrow, has lived in the village of Sipson almost his entire life.

The announcement by Secretary of State for Transport Geoff Hoon giving the Government's backing for a third runway at the airport means everything he lived for is now under threat.

Although the fight to stop the runway being built will continue and it could be many years before the bulldozers roll in, Mr Clark had hoped to see out his remaining lifetime in peace.

He is due to celebrate his 97th birthday on February 5 but the thought of his home, his village and his memories being demolished to make money for the aviation industry has spoilt his mood.

He said: "I've had a very pleasant life and I was expecting to come to the end of my days the same way - not with all this upheaval."

Mr Clark was born in Yiewsley but moved to Sipson as a teenager with his mother when the aunt he had been living with died.

He said: "I went to work on the farm and the job came with accomodation in a row of cottages. Everyone worked on the farm in those days, to get to any other form of work meant cycling for miles.

"When I married my wife and we had four sons we needed more space, so I got the house I'm still living in 57 years later.

"My earliest memories of Heathrow are when it was fields where I used to go shooting rabbits. The first evidence of an aiport was a strip of concrete and three old sheds used by light aircraft.

"Progress really sped up during the war, I remember a big American plane landed once and burst into flames. We all came running from miles to have a look."

Horses and carts gave way to terminals and runways but still throughout all the years Mr Clark never thought the airport would grow to the size where it would cause the village to be demolished.

He said: "When I heard the news the Government had said 'yes' to expansion I felt like doing a Guy Fawkes to the lot of them. My message to Mr Brown is people are more important than planes and they should not be doing this to us."