Residents are angry after a council refuse contractor moved to a new depot on the edge of their village.

Focsa has transferred vehicles to the edge of Great Bowden – but does not have planning permission to operate from the site.

The company, based at a farm near Theddingworth, took over the district waste collection and recycling contract in the spring.

Details of a planning application for the new site, a former woodyard off the A6, were published last week.

The company wants to store its vehicles, bulk up dry recyclable goods and compost up to 25,000 tonnes of garden waste.

It moved waste and cleaning vehicles on to the new site on Friday. Great Bowden parish council chairman, Tim Banks, said: "We are very angry that it seems to be a done deal."

He said: "We believe the access from the site on to the A6 is potentially very dangerous. It is a very fast stretch of road and the prospect of large numbers of slow-moving vehicles moving on to it is just an accident waiting to happen."

He also said the bridge to the site was unsuitable for heavy lorries.

He promised that the parish council would be mounting a campaign of opposition.

Welham Lane resident Lynn Wilson lives 250 yards from the site.

She said: "We have grave fears. I cannot believe that the access on to the A6 can be allowed for safety reasons alone.

"We have lived next to the bypass since it was built and it is a dangerous road.

"There is also the prospect of staff driving along Welham Lane, which is totally unsuitable."

Green campaigner Phil Knowles, who lives at nearby East Langton, said: "There are very serious doubts as to the suitability of the site which must be tested by the planning process."

County councillor Sarah Hill said: "I was contacted by residents over the weekend when they realised what had happened.

"This is very disappointing."

Focsa has declined to comment.

A spokesman for Harborough District Council said: "The normal planning process is clear."

But he added: "We, as the local planning authority, are unable to take enforcement action until the application has been determined.

"Depending on the outcome of the planning application a decision would then be taken on whether enforcement action is necessary."

He said the council has a legal duty to undertake collection services, recycling and waste, and was aware that a suitable site must be found.