ABOUT 60 villagers who attended an annual parish meeting in South Littleton pledged to fight tooth and nail to stop Kanes Foods expanding.

They are determined to force a public inquiry or, at the last resort, hold demonstrations outside the factory to disrupt production.

There was uproar last month after Wychavon District Council went against their own planning guidelines and backed the extension to the 20-acre site to include six more acres for salad production and distribution.

At the meeting last Thursday, villagers formed an action committee to fight the plans, assuming their campaign for a public inquiry is successful.

In a rallying call Councillor Clive Shotton said: "At the end of the day this is our village. If we really want this stopped we can stop it by direct action. If every day the trucks delivering to Dr Randall have to call the police to clear protesters it will not be economically viable - we will play it hard."

The villagers are angry over a number of issues related to the Kanes Foods factory. They say the amount of heavy vehicles streaming through the village puts the safety of their children and elderly residents at risk because of the lack of crossings and narrow pavements.

They also say that over the years inadequate sewers get blocked forcing effluent into their gardens.

Jo Meadows from Middle Littleton said: "Kanes are allowed put down the mains sewer a certain percentage of their waste water but when it gets too much the effluent floods into our gardens. It's often bright pink and the smell is dreadful."

Another villager said: "A lot of children go to the school but the roads are too dangerous to cross, and the lorries take no notice of the speed limit."

Wychavon District Council is sending a full report relating to the Kanes planning application for the Secretary of State, John Prescott, to decide whether to hold public inquiry.

Last week MP Peter Luff backed the villagers' call for an inquiry.