RESIDENTS objecting to goods vehicles operating from a unit in Kempsey's Brookend Lane have completely misunderstood the situation, says the operator.

Up to 70 people have objected to an application by Alan Davis, of Berkeley Close, Whittington, for permission to keep four goods vehicles and four trailers at Unit 9, Brookend Farm.

But Mr Davis said his application to the West Midlands Traffic Commissioner was merely a formality, required by law when he took over the business.

"Lorries have been operating down there for the last 20 or 30 years, before some of those houses were built," he said.

"All I am doing is changing the name of one business from A Price to Alan Davis.

"It is an ongoing contract, taking pallets from a company in South Wales to another in Birmingham."

Claims that the lorries were operating 24 hours a day were simply not true.

"There are only four vehicles and I am not bringing in any more.

"They go out on a Monday morning and come back on a Friday night or Saturday morning," he said.

Objectors to Mr Davis' application say the lane is unsuitable for heavy vehicles and that there is a bridge on a bend too narrow for a car and a lorry to pass.

Mr Davis said the road was 17ft wide while a lorry was only 8ft and the driver was able to see over the hedgerows and see cars coming from a long way off.

Parish councillor David Harrison, who lives in Brookend Lane, said 59 letters of objection had been brought to him and he knew of at least another 10 sent direct to the Traffic Commissioner.

He told Kempsey Parish Council he had visited Brookend Farm with Mr Davis and seen 18 articulated lorries on the site.

Haulage

Residents were not opposed to light industry at Brookend Farm, but did not believe a haulage firm could be considered light industry, said Mr Harrison.

Mr Davis said afterwards that only six of the 18 lorries were in use and only three of those belonged to him.

"Five were on the unit next door and were up for sale and another seven haven't moved for 12 months or more. Some of them are used for storage," he said.

"I have been in business to do with lorries for 30 years and I have never had any problems anywhere in this county.

"I am a pretty fair person and this is totally unfair.

"It has really upset me."