ANGRY householders fighting plans to build an auction mart near their homes yesterday made their feelings clear.

With just hours to go before the deadline for objections, they handed in armfuls of individual objections to the scheme.

About 600 signed letters opposing the scheme, off Thirsk Road, Northallerton, were handed in to Hambleton planning officials. They were in addition to 170 letters that had been delivered directly to the council.

"We want the council to be in absolutely no doubt about the position local people are taking," said action group spokesman Bob Beaver yesterday.

"We are vehemently against this and 95 per cent of the houses on the estates affected have now sent in letters of complaint.

"If we live in a democracy we hope the planning team appreciate the strength of local feeling and take it into account when making their recommendation."

Outline proposals for the auction mart - to replace the one in Northallerton's town centre - are expected to go before the planning committee at the end of the month.

People living near the proposed site are furious about the scheme, which they claim will bring noise, nuisance and pollution to their area.