ANGRY residents have launched a petition against plans to create a waste recycling facility in North Yorkshire.

The community of Brompton-on-Swale is at loggerheads with waste management firm, Yorwaste, which has submitted two separate applications in for a waste transfer station at different locations around the village.

But the dispute could be settled when county councillors meet on Tuesday, July 29, to consider the company's offer to drop both - if residents accept a third option further along Scorton Road.

It has since emerged that people in Colburn face a similar issue on the same day.

Richmondshire District Council's environment and planning committee also meets on July 29. It will vote on plans for a recycling bulking station on land the authority owns next to the lorry park.

Colburn town councillor Helen Grant said the district administration's proposal had come as a surprise to residents.

"The location is adjacent to a caf, food warehouse, doctor's surgery, and new small business, it hardly fits with the image of a new Colburn the district authority has been trying to promote," she said.

"A doorstep petition has been launched because people I have spoken to are extremely angry.

The town council is against this application because it could jeopardise the drive to attract more new businesses to the area.''

However, Richmondshire District Council's environmental protection officer, Sean Little, said the site had been chosen only after careful consideration.

"The authority owns very little land, but this is one site which is big enough and close to the A1 for easy access,'' he said.

"A bulking operation would not only allow us to expand the number of recycling banks but would cut transport costs by a massive amount.''

Mr Little said, if councillors agree to approve the site, it would be well-screened to reduce any impact on the surrounding area. He said he was not aware of any significant resistance from neighbours.

"We have spoken to companies in the area and to the Colburn Medical Centre and no one seemed to have a problem with the proposal," he said.