Many Cornish residents were celebrating this week after hearing Concorde is to be grounded and the nightly sonic boom will finally be coming to an end.

Campaigners have long complained about the earth-shattering noise made by the luxury jets and are heartened that as of October the seven strong fleet will be taken out of service.

A spokesman for British Airways said the decision had been made because of falling passenger demand and rising maintenance costs.

Harry Pusey, from Troon, who has always been one of the key campaigners against Concorde slowing down and speeding up over Cornwall, said he was delighted to hear the jets were to be taken out of service.

The 81-year-old retired aviation expert is now optimistic he might never have to hear the jet again because meteorological factors mean the boom is now only really heard between October and May.

Mr Pusey said he has never been against Concorde itself, just the noise it created.

Having successfully campaigned to get Concorde to slow down further out to sea in 1999, thus reducing the times when the sonic boom was heard, Mr Pusey has always said the whole thing could have been avoided if there had been a little more social conscience on behalf of the operators.