RESIDENTS on a country road are fighting plans to expand a nearby recycling centre.

Neighbours on Station Road in Nursling are teaming up to oppose plans to expand the Lee Lane site.

The proposal the total number of vehicles at the site, owned by the Collard Group, go from 240 to 350.

The amount of waste and materials would also increase from 75,000 to 125,000 tonnes per year.

Those living near the site fear noise pollution from lorries, which is already causing frustration and lack of sleep, will get worse. A petition against the plans has been set up.

READ MORE: Controversial plan for recycling centre expansion deferred

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'A lorry motorway park'

Penny Gage, 62, said: “I cannot describe what it's like living here. It's like living on a lorry motorway park.”

Penny works nights as a cleaner and sleeps during the day, however, she struggles to rest with the noise of the lorries driving past.

She said: "I can't sleep. Honestly, I cannot sleep with all the noise and vibration you get from them."

She added: "I only get about three or four hours if I’m lucky and it’s nowhere near enough."

Her brother, Marcus Gage, 56, lives next door and says the noise starts in the early hours of the morning.

He said: "At seven o'clock in the morning there's a procession of them going out, so you will not sleep through that."

Another neighbour, 50-year-old, Ken Wilson, said: "The lorries that go past the house are gigantic.

"It’s almost unbelievable to think that kind of lorry is allowed on a road like that because the road is not actually wide enough for two lorries to drive past."

Decision deferred

A spokesperson for Hampshire County Council confirmed it has received an application submitted by the Collard Group requesting permission to expand the existing recycling centre.

They said: "A public consultation took place on the planning application. The views of consultees, including the Highway Authority and Environmental Health, have been sought and all responses, public representations and petitions will be considered as part of the determination process."

They added: "The determination of the application was deferred to a later meeting, pending further information. The planning application will come back to the Regulatory Committee on a date yet to be determined."

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