Emma Thompson buys Heathrow runway land

Emma Thompson, the Oscar-winning actress, has put her money where her mouth is with regards to the controversial plan to build a third runway at Heathrow. Along with a number of other famous opponents, among them TV impressionist Alastair McGowan and multi-millionaire green campaigner and prospective Tory MP Zac Goldsmith, she has dipped into her own purse to buy a plot of land that lies at the heart of the proposed runway development.

Thompson (pictured) told the Guardian: "I don't understand how any government remotely serious about committing to reversing climate change can even consider these ridiculous plans. It's laughably hypocritical. That's why we've bought a plot on the runway. We'll stop this from happening even if we have to move in and plant vegetables."

The plan is divide up the land into small parcels which will then be sold to as many as 4,000 people, meaning that the government, who are expected to approve the British Airports Authority's (BAA) proposal for a third runway, would have to issue – and fight – multiple compulsory purchase orders. Thompson believes this will heighten public awareness of the environmental problems the runway will cause.

Others sharing the ownership of the plot are Labour MP John McDonnell, Conservative transport spokeswoman Justine Greening, and Lib Dem MP Susan Kramer. Greenpeace, who have orchestrated the foiling campaign, said that it took them nearly a year to identify the land and buy it from under the nose of BAA. "We had to have a cover. We pretended we wanted land to set up a donkey sanctuary."

Meanwhile, Hugh Laurie, the star of US medical drama House, has been talking of the time he and Thompson were lovers when they were at Cambridge together in the 1970s. "Those were blissful days, I must say," Laurie told the Daily Telegraph. "Life was all about fun back then. Watching Emma was like watching the sun or wind or some other elemental force."