A COUNCILLOR is calling for plans for more opencasting on a site near a village to be rejected.

Durham County Council's planning committee will visit West Rainton to look at proposals by Clay Services to work fields at Wheatley Head before reaching a decision.

The company wants to extract 550,000 tonnes of brickshale and fireclay, and 125,000 tonnes of coal, from the site over five years.

But parish councillor Ian Fawcett, who is also the village's representative on Durham City Council, said the village has had enough opencasting.

"We have had opencasting for decades - even before the deep mines were closed down - and it's time to say that enough is enough, he said.

"The parish council has always been against opencasting or waste disposal in the area, because it has been going on for more than 30 years."

Councillors were recommended to hold a site visit after officials said that the application had prompted many letters, particularly about the impact of lorries on the proposed route.

The scheme will mean up to 74 lorry movements a day, using the C8B Pithouse Lane, the B1284 at Woodstone Village and the A167 to reach the A1(M) at Chester-le-Street.

Combined with lorries using the existing Marks Quarry landfill site, the total number of movements will be 254.

The site will be worked between 7am and 7pm Monday to Friday and from 7am to 1pm on Saturdays, and will create 20 jobs for two years, reducing to three for the remainder of the site's life.

The brickshale and clay will be sent to Throckley Brickworks, and the coal will be blended with coal from Northumberland to produce electricity.