PEOPLE facing the prospect of a coal depot being built near their homes say their lives will be blighted by noise and dust and heavy traffic.

Wagons taking opencast coal to the Weardale Railway would pass 47 homes in Wolsingham, County Durham, on their way to a planned new depot off Durham Road, if permission is granted.

Although the railway was originally reopened as a tourist line, its US owner, Iowa Pacific, hopes to subsidise operations by securing contracts to transport coal and other minerals.

It is in talks with Britain’s biggest mining company, UK Coal, about transporting more than a million tonnes from the new Park Wall opencast site at Sunniside, near Crook, County Durham, to North Yorkshire.

It could mean 1,500 tonnes of coal a day arriving in Wolsingham in 77 wagon loads over a four-year period.

The contract means three jobs would be created at UK Coal and six on the railway.

But the lorries would pass 15ft from the doors of people in Attwood Terrace, Wolsingham, and could operate from 7am to 7pm, Monday to Friday, and 7am to 1pm on Saturdays.

Steve Raine, from the railway, told a public meeting about the plans that the contract would speed up the provision of a passenger service.

He said there would be strict controls on noise and dust at the depot, while efforts would be made to provide new car parking for residents.

However, some people at the meeting doubted the measures would be effective.

Councillor Anita Savory sad: “This is going to affect more than 50 homes in the village.

These planning proposals should not be inflicted on the residents.”

Resident Christine Gray said: “I do not see why Wolsingham has to suffer because the railway wants to make money. I personally did not want the railway in the first place. I do not really care whether or not we have the railway. We are the ones who are suffering because of the need to make the railway pay.”

UK Coal’s current permission for Park Wall allows it to transport coal along the A68.

Communities in the area will share a £177,000 community fund, with some properties in Sunniside and White Lea getting mains gas for the first time.