RESIDENTS have voiced their concerns over proposals to dump hazardous waste in underground caverns a mile from their village. About 50 people attended a public meeting in Greatham, near Hartlepool, on Saturday, to discuss the plan by Coastal Caverns UK to use 15 brine caverns 1,000ft below ground at nearby Seal Sands to store waste.

The meeting was organised by Jody Dunn, who is standing for the Liberal Democrats in the forthcoming Hartlepool by-election, although she stressed the meeting was not a political broadcast.

She said: "I think the important thing about this is to forget about the election and think what do we all want on this issue. "We will have strength by working together. The important thing is to have your voices heard."

The caverns were excavated for the production of brine from embedded salt formations as part of the chemical industry and are now disused. It is anticipated the company will submit a planning application to Hartlepool Borough Council in the near future, which needs to be accompanied by an Environmental Impact Assessment.

Local people have been given until Friday to put forward their views and the meeting was held to give them a chance to have their say. Peter West, a resident of Hartlepool, said: "I do not believe such materials can be stored in such quantities safely over a very long period of time without some risk, however small, of leakage into nearby environment.

"We do not know the origin of the waste and do not know if it is radioactive. However, we do know the company has said it is hazardous. "My concern of a project of this type is it does commit us, as a town, to a future of a kind of industry which could potentially be very polluting." Local ward councillor Geoff Lilley said: "This will bring no jobs at all to this area and I can't see any positive advantage to this, just a lot of negatives."

Nobody from Coastal Caverns was at the meeting but a spokesman said the company was committed to proceeding with the project in an open and transparent manner.

Any resident who would like to comment can write to Richard Teece, Hartlepool Council, Bryan Hanson House, Hanson Square, Hartlepool. The deadline is Friday.