SUTTON residents are up in arms over a planned recycling area - literally at the bottom of their gardens.

House owners at Crofters Mill have complained to the parish council that broken glass and syringes left at the site would be a danger to their children, and the noise would create a nuisance.

They added they had had no warning of the plan.

A delegation of residents attended a meeting of the parish council, which owns the land on the former Silentnight site.

Chairing the meeting, Coun Ken Hart said the area off Bridge Road had historically been used to house recycling facilities. When Barrett Homes wanted to build the Crofters Mill estate, the council agreed to temporarily remove the facilities.

Coun Hart said: "Barretts asked us to remove it to let traffic in and out. Arrangements to remove it to the Bay Horse car park was on the understanding it would be returned."

But the former site is now Diane Nichol's back garden. The proposed new site is next to the original one, and is still too near to their homes, claim the protesters.

Mrs Nichol said: "We would never have bought our house if we had known. We haven't spent all that money on a house to live next door to a tip."

"We are concerned that this thing has just appeared with no forewarning," said neighbour Harry Davis.

He was worried the recycling facility could become a tip. "If people can't get their rubbish into the containers, they just leave it."

Coun Hart said the district council was obliged to increase its recycling levels, and facilities were necessary for that side of the village.

However other councillors admitted they had made a mistake over the siting of the facilities.

Coun Steve Place said: "There are two problems with the present site. One, it denies access to get to the allotments and two, it will be an eye sore and it might constitute a nuisance to neighbouring residents."

He said that the council should have looked at the siting of the facilities more carefully.

Coun Chris Suri agreed: "All of us should sit down here and say we have made an error. If I had bought a house for over £100,000 I wouldn't want that next to it."

However a 27-name petition in favour of the recycling bins was presented to the council.

Coun Place said that the wording implied the residents wanted facilities, but not that they wanted them on that site.

A compromise was suggested by Coun Hart that the facilities would not include a bottle bank, but Coun Barbara Smith argued that this may actually make the situation worse, as people would just leave bottles there anyway.

The council agreed to defer the decision for another month, to look at alternative sites and the cost implication.