A TRAIN stop at Durham Tees Valley Airport that is used by only a handful of passengers could be axed.

The stop, on the nearby Bishop Auckland to Saltburn line, was built when the airport opened and once had regular services and a connecting shuttle bus.

Now there is one service a week, on a Saturday, and that could be axed in a rail review by the Department of Transport.

Last night, a spokesman for the airport said that the halt, which is three quarters of a mile from the airport terminal, now only operated as a "legal device".

Durham Tees Valley plans to add up to two million passengers in the next ten years and has submitted a planning application to Darlington Borough Council for a new terminal, hotel, business park, more aircraft bays, extra parking, a cargo and maintenance village and a taxiway.

It admits that poor rail links make public transport an unattractive option for airport passengers.

The airport has launched a Sky Express coach service from Darlington railway station, but an assessment of transport, submitted with its application, contains no plans for a rail link.

The assessment states it is not realistic or viable to develop the train halt because of inadequate capacity, timetabling constraints, its inaccessibility, and the "prohibitive costs" involved.

Instead, it suggests adopting Dinsdale rail station, a couple of miles away from the airport terminal, which the report says has better provision in terms of passengers and trains and could accommodate a shuttle bus for people heading for the airport.

Hugh Lang, the airport's managing director, said: "There are capacity issues with the line itself and there is also the location of the stop.