A PILOT has been told he can't use his land as an airstrip - in case his plane distracts passing drivers and leaks fuel on the motorway.

The unnamed aviator hoped to build a kilometre-long runway at Martinscroft Moss near Rixton-with-Glazebrook and make around a dozen flights a week.

But highways officials and traffic police told planning chiefs that low-flying planes could cause the undue and serious distraction of drivers on the M6', who then recommended the plans be grounded.

A spokesman for the applicant said he was an experienced pilot with 40 years under his belt who simply wanted to use his own land so he can enjoy his hobby more.

In a letter to the council, Barton Aerodrome, in Eccles, said its planes flew far lower over the M60 (250ft) than the applicant would over the M6 (800ft) and had no record of planes causing driver to crash.

Clr David Earl (LD-Westbrook) voted to approve the plan but the other members of the development control committee voted to refuse it.