Residents claim factory win

Residents have won a campaign for action to cut nuisance from noise and smells at a Stourbridge factory.

Restrictions to control the impact of the factory will be in place within weeks, council chiefs said. The move follows a two-month consultation with residents who said their lives were being made a misery.

They claim that noise, foul smells and sand blow over their homes from Caparo Aluminium Technologies Ltd in Wollaston.

Dozens of complaints have been lodged against the factory which produces car parts, by people living nearby who say the disruption to their lives is unacceptable.

Now the factory will have to change the way it works to reduce the noise at night and increase controls on emissions of sand and smell.

If bosses do not adhere to the restrictions they could face court action.

Roger Kendrick is on the committee of the Caparo Action Group, set up to protest about the impact the factory was having on people's lives.

"We are very pleased that these restrictions are being imposed," he said.

"I just hope that Caparo will follow them through so we don't have to suffer the noise and smell that we have been living with."

Mr Kendrick, aged 65, of Amblecote High Street, said the odours could be smelled from up to a mile away, while the noise was like "living next to an airport".

"It's terrible - people living very close can't enjoy being in their gardens," he added.

Deputy leader of the council Les Jones, said the restrictions marked the end of a "long and complex process".

"We want Caparo to stay because of the jobs they provide, but it's tough to get the balance right between what's in the interest of the business and what is in the interest of residents," he said.

Chief executive of Caparo's engineering department, John Wood, said the company did not wish to comment.