Government ministers are considering £8 million plans for a new international airport just a few miles from Gatwick.

The idea is to develop an existing private airfield at Redhill in Surrey to provide a new 2,000-metre international runway capable of handling large passenger jets.

London Redhill, as it is being called, would be an immediate alternative to building a second runway at Gatwick.

The plan has been submitted by the owners of Redhill Aerodrome as part of the consultation process concerning new airport facilities in the South-East.

Government ministers will look at the plans in the New Year. The owners insist it could be operational in four years.

A move to bring international commercial traffic to Redhill would sidestep the "no further development" agreement between Gatwick and West Sussex County Council.

However, it is being stressed that any development would be entirely stand-alone and not an adjunct to Gatwick.

The report goes on to say that the development would be an immediate fix to the 10 to 15-year wait for expansions at Heathrow and Stansted and a considerably longer delay with any development at Cliffe in Kent.

It is claimed that only about two-dozen houses would have to be demolished to make way for the scheme.

The report also suggests that noise would be no worse than the current levels around Redhill caused by private jets and helicopters.

A spokesman for Reigate and Banstead Borough Council, the local authority for Redhill, said: "We cannot comment without seeing a firm report."

The CBI today demanded three new runways in the South-East, possibly including one at Gatwick, as it published its submission to the Air Transport White Paper, which is due out next autumn.

The CBI said the first runway would be needed at Heathrow by 2015, the second at Stansted by 2020 and the third by 2030 at either Gatwick or Stansted.