RESIDENTS campaigning against plans to increase operations at a controversial tip are to hold their first official protest meeting tonight.

The newly formed Stop Sita group will discuss plans to persuade three companies running the tip for the next 40 years to contribute towards the cost of a new junction off the M65 to take their heavy goods traffic.

Waste disposal firm Sita is spearheading an application to Lancashire County Council for permission to roll all existing permissions for the Whinney Hill tip into one.

If permission is granted the number of heavy goods vehicles entering the site could more than double from 300 a day to 725, with up to 660,000 tonnes of household, industrial and commercial waste dumped there annually for the next 40 years.

The three companies, based in Preston, Halifax and Bury, also want to install a one-way system at the junction of Henry Street and Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, to take their wagons. Tonight residents will team up with members and officers from Hyndburn Council, representatives from the county council, and residents associations to put together their case.

At a meeting earlier this week councillors and residents decided to push for a partnership approach to the problem with a link road from Huncoat Industrial Estate to the motorway.

Councillor Tim O'Kane, portfolio holder for environmental health and member for Clayton-le-Moors, said: "The constructive meeting established that the way forward is a positive agenda whereby local residents demonstrate to Lancashire County Council that motorway access is a necessary and viable alternative to the proposed plans, which have 6,000-plus tonnes of waste travelling through urban areas every year for the next 40 years."

The meeting starts at 8pm in the Hare and Hounds, Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors.