N OXON: Residents fear misery if a firm is allowed to double the amount of human waste dumped near their homes.

Waste firm Peter Bennie Ltd is seeking permission to dump another 40,000 to 50,000 tonnes of treated waste at Wroxton Fields Quarry in a process that helps soil return to a useful state after minerals have been extracted.

Residents have suffered since 40,000 tonnes of “bio-solids” also known as sewage sludge were put there in the six months after last September.

Retired lorry driver Graham Paxton, 62, said: “When we come home we have to keep the windows shut. We will have to be supplied with gas masks.”

The Environment Agency said it wants to hear public comments about plans from the firm to use another part of the site. A decision is expected by Tuesday, September 3. Peter Bennie Ltd declined to comment but Banbury MP Sir Tony Baldry said smell problems should be reported to Cherwell District Council.

Wroxton Parish Councillor Michael Robart said the smell was intolerable and up to 200 lorries a week have been going through the village to the site.