ANGRY residents of Llancloudy in south Herefordshire have told Defra they are not prepared to travel to London to discuss the removal of thousands of tonnes of buried foot-and-mouth waste from a farm near their properties.

Instead, they want Defra representatives to visit the village to see the problems they would have to face if the waste - at Hill Farm - is removed as proposed by a massive convoy of lorries along a single-track lane near their homes.

One of the residents, David George, said: "We want them to come and see the situation first hand. There is not much point in going to London just to do some talking. We can do that by phone.

"We want to show them the narrowness of the track, the closeness of the homes and how the lorries would shake and damage the foundations of our properties."

Hill Farm was the first holding in Herefordshire and among the first in Britain to be affected by the disease four years ago. Besides animal and other waste, some 1,000 carcasses from several farms are buried there.

Mr George and other villagers say that because Defra will not place a bond on their properties to cover them for structural damage, they are prepared to lie down in the road to prevent the lorries travelling past their homes.

Defra were also not prepared to place a bond on the main drive from the farm to the road which was the easiest and safest route, said Mr George.

He claimed a contractors' report had estimated the removal of some 8,000 tonnes, including sub-soil, and the involvement of between 700 and 900 lorries.

Defra minister Ben Bradshaw has promised to meet Hereford MP Paul Keetch and the residents to discuss the removal operation and the reinstatement of the land but only in London, as the exact access route had not been agreed.

Mr Bradshaw told Mr Keetch in a written Parliamentary answer that because of on-going litigation between the owners of Hill Farm and Defra, officials believed the meeting should not be held on site.

"I am puzzled as to why the meeting can't take place there," said Mr Keetch. Defra had told him the preferred route was along the access drive from Hill Farm to the main road but the owners, Kevin Feakins and Georgina Hawkins, had not agreed to this.

On Tuesday, Mr Keetch said the minister had told him a meeting with residents would take place before a final decision was made on a route. Herefordshire Council planners have given the go-ahead for topsoil to be taken to the farm.