AS council officials prepare to defend controversial plans to build a giant rubble factory on farmland, pilots from a nearby airfield have added their voices to the chorus of objections to the scheme.

Last year, Essex County Council launched a strategy to increase the amount of rubble recycled and reduce the tonnes dumped in landfill sites.

Weald Hall Farm in North Weald was shortlisted as a plant for dumping, cleaning, washing and crushing over 100,000 tonnes of rubble a year, with several large old storehouses earmarked for housing the factory.

Residents were outraged by the plans, expressing concerns that Weald Hall Lane would be overwhelmed with heavy goods vehicles, and the area covered in clouds of dust.

Council officers will be explaining and defending the plans at a meeting in Thornwood Village Hall on September 15, and pilots at North Weald Airfield have voiced new concerns about the plans, claiming that clouds of dust from the plants will block plane engines and obscure the landing strip.

The Airfield’s Squadron Director, Alan Crouchman, said: “They are certainly developments which are of concern for us.

“Dust from the plant could be a problem because it could get in to plane engines and block them.”

"I will be attending the meeting on September 15 to see if it is likely there will be visibility issues."

Epping Forest District Council, Harlow Council and North Weald Parish Council all oppose the plans.

North Weald Parish Councillor Terry Blanks said: "there is the problem of the noise and the dust.

"There is also the problem that the plant would be in a field that borders North Weald Airfield.

"There would be a serious issue with the dust it created."