A SKIP company is bidding to extend its operation and process up to 10 tonnes of asbestos a year.

The planning application from A1 Skip Hire Ltd, Clayton-le-Moors, has angered residents.

The company plans to extend its existing site in Holme Road, a lane which runs alongside Hindburn Brook, near the Hyndburn Bridge pub, and also to store skips on another stretch of land across the lane.

Some residents have claimed the bid is unsuitable for the quiet lane which is popular with walkers.

However the owners of A1 Skip Hire said the land had always been used for industry.

Around 600 signatures have been collected for a petition against the plans.

Councillors on Lancashire County Council’s planning committee are now due to decide whether to allow the extension of the existing waste transfer station, and the storage of processed waste.

The extension would see two more units at A1’s current base, the site of the old Oakenshaw Chemical Works, used for the storage of waste and for land on the opposite side of Holme Road to be used for the storage of processed waste in skips.

Storage on land across from the existing site would be screened by a boundary of newly planted trees.

Coun Nick Collingridge, who has been contacted by numerous residents over the issue said: “There is a high level of discontent.

"Residents have highlighted a number of issues and feel their complaints are not being dealt, while the site owners feel they are being harassed in their attempts to run a business.

“We now need to get the relevant officers together and examine all the complaints, taking into consideration the applicant’s grievances.”