HORRIFIED residents in a picturesque Warwickshire community are battling to prevent a quarry being built on their doorsteps, which they fear will lead to the death of the close-knit village.

Salford Priors villagers took a 1,000-name petition - and a coffin - to Warwickshire county councillors as they pleaded to "keep the heart of the village beating".

Some of the protestors dressed in black as they accompanied the coffin to highlight their belief that the extraction of gravel from a site on farmland in School Road, Salford Priors, would be the "death" of their village.

One of them, Sally Sheen, who lives in the heart of the site, said: "We would live in the middle of the quarry - and right next door to us is a bed and breakfast, which would also be affected.

"The impact would be felt right through the village, which would be blanketed in dust and the noise of the plant and machinery would be deafening to us."

Warwickshire County Council is earmarking the site - just 600 metres from the centre of the village - as a potential quarry in its Minerals Plan.

The council owns the land, part of which is currently farmed by tenants, and several families would be "completely encircled" by the quarry, says SPAGE (Salford Priors Against Gravel Extraction).

SPAGE spokesman Charles Coward made the case for the villagers to a meeting of the full council in Warwick, when the petition was presented on Thursday.

He said homes, businesses and the local primary school would feel the impact of dust and noise and health could be harmed by airborne particles and persistent noise.

A statement issued by SPAGE said the community was fighting to "keep the heart of the village beating".

Among protestors who handed in the petition were County Councillor Mike Brain and Stratford-on-Avon District Councillor Mark Cargill.

Councillor Cargill, who represents Bidford West and Salford Priors, said: "This is not just 'nimbyism'. Salford Priors and surrounding villages have already had to put up with nearby gravel extraction for many years. This proposal would bring gravel extraction right to their doorsteps and that is unacceptable.

"We fully appreciate that the country needs minerals for the building boom currently under way.

"My concern is that this is purely financially motivated as it would provide a small income to the Warwickshire County Council and we are all aware of the financial pressures there.

"However the harm caused would be significantly greater than the monetary benefit to the council. It is the duty of this council to look after the best interests of its residents, not make their lives a misery for years to come.

"This poorly conceived plan should be abandoned and this delightful Warwickshire village given back to the community."

A spokesman from Warwickshire County Council said that the Government requires every county to extract enough sand and gravel to provide for roads and housing and there is a particular shortage in the county.

They said: "Following extensive consultation last year, this was one of the few sites that is available now in the county for extraction, is able to be extracted during the plan period (2017-2032) and is acceptable in principle in environmental terms, being outside the Green Belt and Special Landscape Areas.

"It is outside flood risk zones and has good highway links and potential for good access.

"Therefore, the site was recommended for allocation in the Minerals Plan."

The county council held an initial six-week consultation on potential quarry sites in its Minerals Plan in January and its cabinet is due to discuss the proposals on October 6.