THE man behind rubbished claims that Canvey is being covered by clouds from aircraft trails says it is not a conspiracy theory, but a genuine threat.

Pat Muldoon, 47, of Eton Close, Canvey, told Canvey Town Council planes were leaving long vapour trails in the sky which were blocking sunlight from the town.

Fears were raised at the last town council meeting on September 2 that chemicals were being discarded from planes over Canvey’s flight path.

Mr Muldoon said it was not chemicals coming from planes, but instead white trails from their exhausts which were covering the island.

He said: “The trails are not a conspiracy, but real, recognised by the Department for Transport with full acknowledgement they can last for several hours, expand, and form artificial cloud cover that impacts on the amount of sunlight we get.”

Councillor John Anderson said: “Our MP would have looked into it in more detail if there was something going on that shouldn’t be.”