Campaigners say they will keep up the pressure to stop night flights from Southend Airport.

Friends of the Earth said a decision to end night time cargo flights over Leigh did nothing to help hundreds of sleep-deprived residents in Rochford.

Last week, the Echo revealed Southend Airport had confirmed pilots of the overnight cargo flights will be told not to fly over Leigh, unless winds speed and direction make it unsafe to do so.

The announcement followed a meeting between councillors and airport bosses after protests from campaigners and residents and a petition which gained more than 2,800 signatures.

Homes in Westcliff along the same flight path will also benefit but the airport is yet to reveal where the flights will be diverted to.

Jon Fuller, from South East Essex Friends of the Earth, said Rochford residents’ health was being endangered by the night flights. He said: “While I am pleased Leigh and Westcliff residents may soon be spared the utter misery of cargo night flights imposed upon them by an utterly callous council, the campaign against our antisocial neighbour will go on until all night flights are banned.

“The residents of Rochford don’t deserve to be put into an early grave by the cardio-vascular disease caused by sleep disruption.

“Everyone who lives around the airport deserves to be treated with a bit of human decency.” Southend Airport’s silence on where the cargo flights will now fly has left Rochford residents frustrated at how the change could affect them.

The Echo pressed the airport for answers on where the route would now travel, but no official answer was given.

When the Echo initially broke the news of night flights avoiding Leigh, the airport stated that new routes and the bid to avoid Leigh would rely on wind speeds and directions.

The airport stated: “We confirmed that we have made progress in terms of agreeing with the airline of our global logistics customer that it is now compulsory to avoid flying over Leigh unless the wind speed will not allow them to do so. We also said we are directing aircraft away from Charlie taxiway at night. In addition, we have agreed that the use of reverse thrust at night will be limited to times when it is unavoidable.”