Carlisle expansion: developer stand off

Someone save us from the macho world of regional airport development, where self-important men throw their weight around. We've already delighted our readers with tales from the North, where BMI has been blackmailing local businesses into using their overpriced flights (or risk losing them forever!). Now Stobart Air, a haulage and freight company, say they will leave Carlisle airport if they can't have their cake and eat it too.

Stobart Air boss Andrew Tinkler wants to build new haulage facilities and threw in a new runway and other goodies to sweeten the deal. Although the expansion was unpopular with many locals, the Council was interested but wanted the new runway built first, to stop Stobart going back on its word. They also placed restrictions on traffic, noise, wildlife habitats and the number of flight allowed per day - a total of 63 restrictions.

All this was too much for Tinkler, who stormed out of a meeting with the Council last week, declaring that if he couldn't have expansion his way, he'd up and move to Widnes instead! This shock announcement led bored hacks at the local paper to commence fretting about all the jobs that would be lost - just as Tinkler revealed that he was going back to the negotiating table. The saga continues - who will blink first?