LORRIES will thunder through New Forest villages 24 hours a day if a new port is built at Dibden Bay, it has been claimed.

Robert Giddings, chairman of Netley Marsh Parish Council, said drivers leaving the port would take a short cut through the New Forest Heritage Area.

He warned that their route would take them past two schools, one of which was only half-a-metre from the edge of the road.

Mr Giddings was giving evidence at the public inquiry into plans put forward by Associated British Ports, which wants to build a six-berth terminal between Hythe and Marchwood.

Objectors fear the scheme, if approved, will lead to a massive increase in road and rail traffic in the area.

Mr Giddings told the inquiry: "The plan is to send port-related traffic up the A326 to Junction 2 on the M27.

"But drivers heading west will turn left at Totton, take the A336 through Netley Marsh and Cadnam, and join the motorway at Junction 1.

"We know this will happen because the A336 is already used by vehicles from Fawley Refinery and other industrial sites in the area."

Mr Giddings said lorries would use the route 24 hours a day if the proposed port was built.

He added: "Netley Marsh Infant School is only half-a-metre from the A336. There's no lollipop lady - and a pedestrian crossing is still unresolved.

"I can see this being a nightmare.

"There's another school just down the road and the same situation is likely to arise there if the Dibden Bay scheme is approved."

Hythe parish councillor Graham Parkes also criticised the proposal, saying the number of vehicles using the A326 would rise by 4,700 a day.

He added that the "obscenely high" cranes planned for Dibden Bay would be visible from most of the gardens in Hythe.