Recycling centre plan is approved

The plant will handle items such as bottles and cans

Plans for a recycling centre in a small North Yorkshire village have been approved despite local opposition.

The site at Flaxby, near Knaresborough, will be run by Yorwaste and will process material from Harrogate's kerbside collecting scheme.

Local residents fear that lorries arriving with tons of waste will spoil their quiet village.

But North Yorkshire County Council says the plant will meet the need for a waste and recycling centre in the area.

About 150 people live in the village and many have expressed concern about the 20,000 tons of waste that will be handled annually at the site next to the York to Harrogate railway line.

John Miller, a spokesman for Yorwaste, said the company will be processing environmentally friendly products.

"The nature of the materials we are looking to handle at the facility are clean, dry recyclables.

"We are talking bottles, cans, jam-jars, newspapers and magazines - we are not talking general household waste."