MONEYSPINNING plans to expand North-East airports would be shelved under radical "green" proposals unveiled by the Conservatives yesterday.

All expansions - including those for Durham Tees Valley and Newcastle airports - would be blocked, pending a review of their damaging impact on climate change.

And, in a double whammy for the airports, VAT would be slapped on short-haul flights to domestic airports and Eurostar destinations, to encourage people to take the train instead.

Both North-East airports offer flights to London and Brussels. Passengers can also fly to Paris from Newcastle.

Other proposals in the Quality of Life report handed to Tory leader David Cameron include a moratorium on the widening of trunk roads, such as the A1.

And local authorities would be urged to tax office car-park spaces, as well as parking at out-of-town supermarkets - a policy leaked last weekend.

The package - which also breaks with Conservative tradition to suggest that becoming richer has made Britons more unhappy - was warmly welcomed by most environmental groups.

But it was greeted with fury by some Tories, who believe proposing tax increases - even green ones - is not only wrong, but will be politically disastrous.

Describing the proposals as "half baked", Tory Euro-MP Roger Helmer said: "The whole approach is an anti-Conservative approach. If the answer is new taxes, we are very much asking the wrong questions."

The comment reflects a nervousness that Mr Cameron - even if he does not adopt the more radical policies - has shot himself in the foot by allowing them to be floated.

Already, the Tory leader has distanced himself from the idea of taxing supermarket parking - while a separate policy report to him has proposed expanding airports.

Labour has warned the green tax rises will have to be "eye-watering" to fund the tax cuts on families that the Conservatives have already pledged.

Meanwhile, millionaire environmentalist Zac Goldsmith, who drew up the report with former Environment Secretary John Gummer, has been accused of being out of touch with the concerns of ordinary people.

But yesterday Mr Cameron responded to the report by saying: "There is much of it we will include in our manifesto."

Insisting that flying was under-taxed, he said: "If you want to be serious about climate change, you have to be serious about aviation."

The Quality of Life report says it is "illogical" that flights are taxed less than cars and trains, and describes the policy of expanding airports as "discredited". But the proposal is likely to provoke a furious reaction in the North-East, where bigger regional airports are seen as a major driver of economic growth.

It is estimated the Durham Tees Valley expansion will create 2,700 jobs and add £120m to the local economy.

Newcastle Airport hopes to create 3,500 jobs over the next decade, by adding new terminal facilities and developing a 360-metre runway.