A third runway at Heathrow Airport will send a strong signal that the country is “open for business with the world” following Brexit, the leader of Bucks County Council has said.

Bucks County Council has now joined more than 30 other councils – including South Oxfordshire and Slough – in writing a letter to the government backing the airport’s expansion plans.

The letter, to Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin, urges the government to “make the right choice” and expand the airport in a bid to boost the economy.

Following the release of the letter, cllr Martin Tett, BCC leader, said the airport – which is 30 minutes away from High Wycombe – is “important” to the Bucks economy.

In a statement, he said: “Heathrow Airport is important to the economy of Buckinghamshire, the Thames Valley and the whole of Britain. It is a major creator of jobs and economic growth.

“In a post Brexit Britain we need to send a strong signal that the UK is open for business with the world.

“Government has delayed a decision too long. Any expansion must however include essential safeguards for the environment, particularly in the south of the county where lives are already impacted by the airport.”

The Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce has already publicly backed the expansion.  

In 2015, the Airports Commission recommended to the government that there should be a third runway at Heathrow instead of adding a second at Gatwick, however critics say a number of towns and villages in Bucks will be affected by noise and pollution if the plans are given the green light.

Iver Parish Council has previously said the expansion would have "enormous impacts" on their residents due to "traffic, noise and air pollution".