VILLAGERS fighting plans to open Europe's biggest landfill site on their doorsteps are celebrating after the application was withdrawn.

Premier Waste Management, which had been planning to develop 61 hectares of farmland between Wingate and Wheatley Hill, confirmed it was withdrawing the application following an objection by the Environment Agency.

The Wingate Grange Farm site - the size of 100 football pitches - stands on a water supply, which produces drinking water to 500,000 people from Sunderland to Hartlepool.

The agency said it had not received any guarantees that the company could protect the water table from the threat of contamination and, therefore, objected to the proposal. A spokesman for Premier Waste Management said: "In light of the Environment Agency's recent comments about the Wingate Grange Farm site, the company has decided to withdraw its application."

The news was greeted with delight in the villages that would have been directly affected had the plan been approved.

Residents had formed a pressure group Wingate Against Refuse (War) to fight the proposal, which would have seen almost 200 vehicle movements a day in and out of the site.

Campaign group chairman Cliff Walker said: "It very much appears that we have won and it is fabulous news. This has brought the village together to fight against the proposal."