CONCERN over the possibility of pollution has provided backing for a North Yorkshire pressure group resisting a bid for a recycling plant.

Residents have bombarded the county council with objections since it emerged that Northallerton company Yorwaste had earmarked part of the Tancred quarry as a possible site.

The firm says the need for new waste disposal facilities is growing with current landfill sites reaching capacity.

However, people living in Scorton and Brompton-on-Swale were horrified when they realised rubbish dumped on the site would form a hillock not far from their homes.

Even though the waste will be covered with soil when the site reaches the end of its useful life, they say their lives would be blighted by noise from more lorries rumbling past their doors, litter, unpleasant smells and an increased risk of vermin.

More than 70 people have already written to county hall to object - but they have also won a valuable ally in the Environment Agency, which is also unhappy with the scheme, as it fears it could result in water pollution.

Action group vice-chairman Johnson Ramsay said: "We half expected this, because of the agency's concerns, and we knew questions had not been answered.

"The fact the agency is looking so deeply into it gives us renewed hope. There is still a long way to go. We cannot afford to ease off.''

Planning officer for North Yorkshire County Council, Mike Easedale, said: "Clearly, the views of the agency will be crucial in determining the technical acceptability of the site for the disposal of domestic waste.''

Meanwhile, the campaigners have called in a solicitor to research claims of links between the county council and Yorwaste.

The authority has a 77.7 per cent share-holding in the firm which was set up in the early 1990s when new legislation meant the council was required to reorganise its waste disposal operation