PHOTO: Sipson Fights Britain`s Heathrow Expansion

Jack Clarke, 96, said he will never accept compensation to move.

The oldest resident of a village that will be wiped off the map by the expansion of London's Heathrow Airport has vowed to stay in his home and defy the bulldozers.

Jack Clarke, 96, who has lived in Sipson since the days when surrounding farmland supplied fruit and vegetables for London's markets, said he will never accept compensation to move.

"I won't leave," he told Reuters. "They will not get me out of this house, I have been here too long."

Plans for a new runway, sixth terminal and extra roads at the world's busiest international airport have prompted fierce opposition in the small village, wedged between two of Britain's busiest motorways on the airport's northern boundary.

The airport's 9 billion pound ($13.2 billion) expansion, approved by government on Thursday, will lead to the destruction of more than 700 homes, a 500-year-old pub and a school.

The development is a world away from the days when farms around Sipson grew crops to sell in the capital.

Clarke, who has a "No Third Runway" poster in the window of his modest redbrick house, worked on those farms for nearly 40 years after moving to the village shortly before the start of Great Depression of 1929.

The airport opened in 1946 and has expanded hugely since, with 68,000 people working there.

His granddaughter Jackie Hand, 36, a hairdresser who works in the village, said: "My whole family heritage is going to be wiped out by the third runway.

"What can we do when the government takes a decision? We are just a cog in a very big wheel."

While Britain says a third runway and sixth terminal are critical for its economic prosperity, opponents argue the development will increase noise and pollution and make a nonsense of the government's environmental credentials.

Walking his dog on a cold winter morning, security guard Michael Eede, 65, pointed out the landmarks that he fears will be demolished in the village where he has lived for 20 years.

"All the people here are affected -- schools, churches, even the cemetery will be destroyed," he said, raising his voice over the roar of the jets.

Some locals say they do not trust assurances from airport operator BAA, owned by Spain's Ferrovial, that the Cherry Lane cemetery could be saved.

"My nephew is buried here," said Linda O'Brien, 50. "If they try to dig this up, I will be lying here on my nephew's grave."

Environmental group Greenpeace has bought a plot of land behind the pub. It plans to divide it into thousands of pieces and sell them to supporters to try to delay the development.

In large white capital letters, campaigners have spelled out the words "Our Climate, Our Land" to send their message to the thousands of passengers who pass overhead each day.

Take a look at the attached photo gallery: Village Vows To Fight Britain`s Heathrow Expansion.