NORTH Wiltshire district councillors were due to decide last night on controversial plans to remove contaminated soil from a housing development site.

The council received two planning applications for the clean-up of land at Pockeredge Farm and Peel Circus in Corsham, where more than 600 houses are to be built.

The former Ministry of Defence site was once occupied by ammunition factories and residents fear toxic pollution could affect their health when developers dig up the land to remove asbestos in the soil. They believe the process could release nitro-glycerine and picric acid into the air in the vicinity of their homes.

White Young Green Environmental has submitted two applications to dispose of the asbestos, and councillors had to decide which plan would be safest and most effective.

Reports carried out for the council showed land earmarked for the distributor road was contaminated with asbestos and picric acid which is used as an explosive.

Planning officer Lachlan Robertson said the developers had looked at the contamination on the site and were now dealing with it in the appropriate manner.

He said: "One way to deal with it would be to dig up the soil and take it away. Another solution would be to sieve it out and only take the contaminated soil."

He said conditions which would be imposed include carrying out measures to control airborne emissions and the use of dust suppression equipment. He stressed that officers did not believe the pollution poses any risk to the public.

But Corsham residents living near to the site fear either solution could be hazardous to their health.

More than 50 people have formally objected to the plans and the council has received 28 letters.

Don and Doreen Stevenson, whose Hatton Way home is next to the land, believe their health could be put at risk if chemicals in the land are disturbed.

They took a petition signed by 637 people to a previous planning meeting, and how vowed to fight on.

Mrs Stevenson said: "We are not giving up and we will fight it all the way."

The Environment Agency said both plans appeared to offer a satisfactory solution to clean up the site.

Developers Persimmon Homes sais it was waiting for a decision on the clean-up before seeking planning permission for the road.