MPs have backed divisive Heathrow expansion plans by a massive majority, in a decisive victory for Theresa May.

Scores of Labour MPs voted with the government to support proposals for a third runway at Heathrow, after Jeremy Corbyn offered his party a "free vote" on the issue, giving ministers the numbers to overcome a small Tory revolt.

Some eight Tories rebelled against the whip, including former ministers Greg Hands, Justine Greening and Theresa Villiers, while 119 Labour MPs backed the government, including shadow education secretary Angela Rayner and frontbenchers Holly Lynch and Sharon Hodgson.

The vote, which was won by 415 votes to 119, came despite an eleventh-hour protest from environmentalists, who prompted a lockdown of parliament's central lobby by lying on the floor and chanting.

The stunt by Vote No Heathrow appeared to reference Boris Johnson's infamous pledge to "lie down... in front of bulldozers" to prevent the expansion of the London airport, when he was elected as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip in 2015.

However the foreign secretary faced calls to resign from fellow Tory MPs when he jetted off to Afghanistan for last-minute talks in order to avoid defying the three-line whip imposed by the government.

If present, Mr Johnson would have been forced to resign as senior ministers have to toe the government line under collective responsibility rules.

Business leaders hailed the vote as a "truly historic" moment, as they believe expanded air capacity will transform Britain's trading relationships and offer a major boost to the economy.

Yet critics warned that they were prepared to go to court over the potential environmental impact and accused the ministers of looking the other way "while the dashboard flashes red with warning lights".

Several Tory ministers spoke out against the government during the four-hour debate, including former international trade minister Greg Hands, who resigned from the government last week to oppose the third runway plans.

The Chelsea and Fulham MP said he "hasn't resigned willingly", adding: "I always knew I would vote against this proposal. For me, in particular, I made an unequivocal pledge at the 2017 general election."

Tory former transport secretary Justine Greening said the story of Heathrow was one of "broken promises, broken politics and broken economics".

She said: "People simply get ignored in this process, you actually have to be either a big business or, I think, a big union before your voice counts, and that is totally unacceptable."

Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald set out Labour's official opposition where he hit out at Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, for making "a complete shambles of a vital national project".

He said: "The transport secretary has consistently demonstrated poor judgment and reliance on incomplete, unreliable and non-existent evidence.

"Yet he stands here today and expects the House to take his word for it, to take a leap of faith with him."

Despite claiming the Heathrow expansion failed to meet the party's key tests on noise, economic benefits and the environment, Labour allowed its MPs to have a free vote on the issue.

SNP transport spokesman Alan Brown said his party would abstain from voting, amid deteriorating relations between Westminster and Holyrood.

He told the Commons: "I've been supportive to date and I certainly won't back against these proposals because what I hope the opportunities are for Scotland, but given the fact the UK government cannot and will not provide these guarantees I also cannot unfortunately vote with the government."

Opening the debate, Mr Grayling said the new runway would "clear path to our future as a global nation in the post-Brexit world".

He said: "This is a really important moment in the history of this House and the history of this country."

The result prompted a wave of positive reaction from business leaders, who have long argued the need for greater capacity.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director-general, said: "Fifty years in the making, this is a truly historic decision that will open the doors to a new era in the UK's global trading relationships.

"Parliament's approval to build the new runway at Heathrow will lift prosperity across the country and has long been seen as vital for firms, especially exporters.

"The race for global competitiveness is well under way and the UK must now be quick off the mark - work on the new runway should start as soon as possible. The prize is tens of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of growth for the British economy."

However environmental campaigners hit out at the "climate-wrecking" runway and threatened to take the government to court over the plans.

In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Show all 22 1 /22 In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Inside one of the terminal tents in 1946 The year the airport opened. Comfortable armchairs and flowers try to distract from the conditions Graham Bridges collection In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow An aerial view of the airport in 1949 Construction of the runway layout and Central Area are under way In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow A Pan Am crew checks out the Boeing Stratocruiser N1029V Clipper Golden Eagle in 1954 During the early 1950s, Pan Am and American Overseas Airlines operated Statocruisers into London Airport in direct competition on the North Atlantic route operated by BOAC In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow One of the first official London Airport guidebooks C.1953, priced 1s In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow In 1950 a permanent concrete terminal building was built This replaced the tents previously used at London Airport North and is seen still in use for charter and cargo flights in this 1959 view via Graham Bridges In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow BOAC check-in desk in 1954 Inside the new London Airport North terminal building, just before the move to the Central Area Graham Bridges collection In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Air traffic control tower in the 1960s Inside the visual control room CAA Archives via Pete Bish In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Rear cover of the 1956 guidebook Showing a plan of the airport at the time, with entrance prices to the spectators’ viewing terraces and for airport coach tours In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Spectators in 1958 How close can you get? As soon as the Central Area was open, spectators were afforded unprecedented views of the airliners In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Terminal 3 was opened as the Oceanic Terminal on 13 November 1961 It was built to handle flight departures for long-haul routes. Renamed Terminal 3 in 1968, it was expanded in 1970 with the addition of an arrivals building In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Inside Terminal 3 in 1969 Check-in desks for BOAC and QANTAS airlines In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Plane spotting on Heathrow’s viewing terraces in the 1960s Wrap up warm, take your spotting logbooks, pen and binoculars and get your mum to pack your sandwiches In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow No 1 Passenger Building Also called the Europa Building. In this photo, taken on 22 June 1963, flags of the many airlines it serves are flown Lee Holden In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Luggage-trailer-towing Routemaster buses When BEA and BOAC merged to form BA on 1 April 1974, both fleets had to be repainted in the new livery, but so did all the ground support equipment In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The entrance to the traffic tunnel in 1974 A Lufthansa Boeing 737 is seen on the runway In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow A 40 per cent scale model of Concorde In September 1990 it was erected on the roundabout at the entrance to the tunnel that passes under the northern runway at Heathrow Airport. It was built in four main parts, with an 80ft-long central fuselage section, to which the wings and tail fin were attached. The completed model was placed on the roundabout in September 1990 and was monitored by CCTV and surrounded by an infrared perimeter alarm that was connected to the local Heathrow police station to ensure it was not vandalised In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Heathrow Airport's 50th anniversary On 2 June 1996, Heathrow marked its anniversary with a flypast of representative airliner types that have served the airport over the years. This culminated in a formation flypast by Concorde with Hawks of the RAF Red Arrows aerobatic team In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The roof of Terminal 3’s car park One of the last bastions for plane spotters and spectators was here. This is the unfriendly notice that greets anyone who attempts this today Richard Vandervord In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow On 24 October 2003 BA withdrew its Concordes from service The final scheduled commercial flight was BA002 from JFK operated by G-BOAG. Here we see three of the Concordes parked together outside the BA hangar on 8 November 2003 following withdrawal John Hughes In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The new control tower Costing £50 million to construct, it gives controllers an excellent 360-degree panoramic view NATS photograph In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow The new Terminal 2 The Queen’s Terminal In pictures: 70 years of Heathrow Looking due west down Runway 27L

Greenpeace UK executive director, John Sauven, said: "This Heathrow flight has failed all safety checks, yet ministers have boarded it anyway and persuaded a majority of MPs to go along with them. But we can't just look the other way while the whole dashboard flashes red with warning lights.

"The UK Government won't be able to tackle illegal levels of air pollution, never mind leaving a healthier environment to the next generation, if a new Heathrow runway is built.

"If ministers don't want to uphold the laws protecting us from toxic fumes and climate change, we're going to ask a court to do that."

The challenge will be launched by four London local authorities affected by the expansion - Wandsworth, Richmond, Hillingdon and Hammersmith and Fulham - in partnership with Greenpeace and mayor Sadiq Khan.

Oliver Hayes, of Friends of the Earth, said: “MPs who backed this climate-wrecking new runway will be harshly judged by history.