HUNDREDS of jobs would be lost at Lancashire quarries if government proposals on noise reduction get the go-ahead, industry leaders have warned.
The Quarry Products Association has claimed that up to 980 jobs will be at risk over the next five years.
Quarries in East Lancashire includes ones in Clitheroe and Withnell.
New noise limits for quarries have been proposed in a consultation document produced by the Department for the Environment, Transport and the Regions.
The limits could be brought in by 2004 and would dramatically reduce noise levels allowed in rural areas.
"These new proposals would devastate the quarrying industry and make most quarries inoperable," warned the QPA's director general Simon van der Byl.
"If the government presses ahead we will be unable to supply our customers in the construction industry and elsewhere and 40,000 jobs mainly in rural areas will be lost."
Mr van der Byl said the proposals were "ludicrous".
"The DETR must drop their proposals and start acting rationally so that the quarrying industry can continue to supply our essential products to within practical environmental standards."
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