THE Mayor of Worcester wants council chiefs to lobby over expanding Birmingham Airport - saying it would significantly benefit Worcestershire.

Councillor Paul Denham says Worcestershire County Council should push for the Second City's airport to be enlarged to boost the whole region.

He has also criticised the council's Conservative leadership for writing to new Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to back for an expansion of Heathrow.

As the Worcester News revealed last week Councillor Simon Geraghty, County Hall's leader, wrote to Mr Grayling to say Heathrow should get its third runway.

Councillor Denham said: "I don't believe expanding Heathrow will do anything to increase business activity into Worcestershire at all.

"I can't believe Simon Geraghty wasn't put up to do that by someone in the transport department in London, because I don't think it will make any difference here.

"What he should be doing is arguing for an expansion of Birmingham Airport - that's the obvious thing to do and that actually would seriously help Worcestershire.

"The Government is considering Gatwick as an alternative to Heathrow, the two of them are about an hour apart.

"But due to HS2 if you had a link from Birmingham straight to Heathrow you wouldn't need to expand Heathrow at all, you could do it here and it'd have far more benefits to this county."

But Councillor Geraghty told the Worcester News he is lobbying for an expansion to Birmingham Airport as well as Heathrow, insisting he is "pushing for both".

"There is a big question over what to do in the South East, and for Worcestershire Heathrow is more accessible than Gatwick," he said.

"So if the Government is looking at either Heathrow or Gatwick it's logical for us to respond to that question and help them make the most positive decision.

"However through the Midlands Engine, I've also said we need to make more of Birmingham Airport, I've made that point at a board meeting.

"The key to Birmingham Airport is the Government seeing it as a priority and using that connectivity from HS2 - given the growth in air travel I don't see this as an either/or situation."

In his letter to Mr Grayling, Councillor Geraghty called a third runway at Heathrow "an essential decision to make", citing the benefits for Britain.

He also called for "a new western rail link" to plug Heathrow into the trains network in areas like the Midlands, and asked to ensure that "skilled jobs are created across the country" during its construction to benefit Worcestershire.

Mr Grayling was appointed new Transport Secretary by Prime Minister Theresa May last month.

Councillor Denham, who was made Worcester's mayor in May, also sits on Worcestershire County Council.