Protest over quarry expansion bid

Villagers mounted a protest against plans to extend a quarry, which they say will harm the local environment.

Lafarge Aggregates want to extend Thrislington quarry, near Ferryhill, County Durham, by 225 acres.

But protesters say the move will encroach on farmland, which is part of a government-backed Countryside Stewardship programme.

The company says the plan will secure 150 jobs and it has pledged to restore the site one extraction is complete.

The Thrislington Works opened in 1958 and Lafarge is asking Durham County Council to allow it to extend the site.

But an action group of residents have collected more than 600 letters of objection to the scheme.

'Noise and pollution'

Nigel Wiffen, of the Stop Lafarge Action Group, said: "This is prime arable land and it seems strange that now the farmers have done their work the company just wants to plough in here and remove the lot.

"But there will also be the problem of noise, dust, extra traffic and pollution.

"We have brown hares and birds like tree sparrows, grey partridges and song thrushes, which could all be at risk," he added.

"A lot of us only live half a mile away from where all this noise and pollution will happen."

No date has yet been set for the county council's planning committee to consider the application.