COUNTY council officers have been accused of railroading Marlborough into accepting a controversial recycling site just 15 feet from homes.

There were angry outbursts from residents at a public meeting on Tuesday evening over the proposal to put a household recycling centre on the old station site in Salisbury Road.

The outcry came after environmental services officer Andy Conn admitted it would be the only household recyling centre in Wiltshire, and possibly in the country, right next to homes.

Mr Conn said the site would be open to the public seven days a week from 9am to 5pm, attracting an average of 150 to 180 cars a day. The contractors would work beyond these hours sorting out the recycling skips.

Priorsfield and St Margarets Mead residents spoke of their fears that the centre would attract flies and vermin, including rats.

Mayor Margaret Boulton, who is the town's county councillor, chaired the meeting in the town hall, which heard that councils have until 2020 to reduce landfill deposits by 65 per cent.

Wiltshire County Council is proposing to establish 37 household recycling centres across the county including the one already in operation at Everleigh near Pewsey.

Coun Bolton said the opposition to the Salisbury Road site was evident. She added: "The only way we can get anywhere with this is to show the strength of feeling from Marlborough."

She urged as many people as possible to attend a public inquiry next year at which a Government inspector will make the final decision on the sites.

More than 70 people, including Priorsfield resident Brian Roberts, pictured, attended Tuesday's meeting and voted unanimously against the Salisbury Road proposal using the same words as Marlborough Town Council when it rejected the site: that it is wholly unsuitable for a household recycling centre because of its proximity to homes.

There was a burst of applause when one Priorsfield resident said: "It is appropriate this is the site of the old railway because I feel we are being railroaded here."

Jo Ripley, local co-ordinator for Friends of the Earth, said the county council is taking the cheap option by building the recycling centres.

She said the better alternative would be for local authorities in Wiltshire to introduce a proper kerbside recycling collection service as found in other parts of the country.

There was applause, too, for Roy Webber, of River Park, when he supported the idea of better household collections "so we can have the stuff taken away without having to trot all over the country".

Mr Webber angrily told the county council officers: "You cannot show anywhere else in the country where there is a household recycling centre next to homes but you will not listen.

"It is not just the residents opposed to this, the town council also objected saying it was wholly unsuitable because of its proximity to a residential area."

Mr Conn and colleague Gareth Bennett listed other sites in and around Marlborough, which had been put forward by objectors, but which had been ruled out for one reason or another.

The alternatives included:

A site to the west of Postern Hill, which the officers said was in open countryside in an area of outstanding natural beauty close to a protected habitat.

The field north of the railway site, earmarked for employment use.

The Elm Tree and T H White sites in London Road and the Stonebridge Close industrial areas because they are already in use.

Bay Bridges because it is in open countryside with dangerous access for HGVs on to the A345.

The Elm Tree Farm business park at Clatford because it is already occupied.

The former tip site west of the Golden Arrow garage on the A4 because of its proximity to the Klondike restaurant and the risk of contamination.

Priorsfield resident Mike Courtney said the officers had been able to give lots of reasons for not considering other sites. "What about contamination to homes in Priorsfield, some of which are no more than 15 feet away?" he asked.

Mr Courtney said residents had to put up with the noise of council gritter lorries, Kennet refuse lorries that are kept at the Salisbury Road depot and Ringway Parkman road contractors' lorries. "You are asking us to put up with too much. There are other places this could go," said Mr Courtney, who has lived in Priorsfield since the estate was built more than 20 years ago.

Many of the objectors, including district and town councillor Bill Cavill, told the meeting they were concerned at the inevitable increase of traffic on an already busy main road where there is congestion every morning and afternoon with St John's School traffic, and at weekends with holiday traffic.

Some objectors said their experience at other recycling centres was that queues of cars built up at busy times and, they feared, this could lead to Salisbury Road being obstructed.

Mr Courtney said Salisbury Road residents who park outside their homes would suffer because sooner or later double yellow lines would have to be put in to keep the traffic flowing.

The mayor was booed when she tried to tell the meeting that there were "many people in Marlborough who like this site".