BLACKPOOL-based airline Platinum Air has suspended flights from Blackpool to London after scheduled air services were prevented from operating at London's Biggin Hill Airport.

The company, billed as Blackpool's own executive airline, ran flights to the London airport each Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

But now Bromley Council, in Kent, has decided to stop the scheduled services at the airport as a 125-year lease comes to an end.

The small airport was chosen by Platinum for its passenger-friendly facilities and easy transport links to London's city centre.

A spokesman for Platinum Air said that the airline was disappointed by Bromley Council's ban but they were now seeking to use Luton Airport and hoped that the Blackpool to London service could be reinstated.

Blackpool Airport's managing director, Garry Eastwood, said that if Platinum flights flew into Luton it would still be possible for passengers to reach the centre of London in under two hours.

"We feel that flights there would be welcomed by Lancashire business travellers or anyone needing to make a fast journey to London," he said.