RESIDENTS are preparing to fight proposals to build a giant quarry on their doorstep.

Villagers in Frating were stunned when a decision by Essex County Council put the site on a shortlist of possible pits.

There are fears it could send property prices crashing.

The quarry – the size of 60 football pitches – would be created on farmland south of the A133 and be bordered by Great Bentley Road and Rectory Road.

Patrick Terpening’s home is just yards from the proposed site at Frating Hall Farm.

He has lived close to a quarry before and said: “We have been here for 14 years, but prior to that we lived in Bedfordshire a mile away from a quarry.

“The noise of lorries reversing all day, every day, really gets you down and, inevitably, there is lots of dust. All the trees end up with a film of dust on them.”

Mr Terpening said the noise for villagers living near the entrance of the site on the A133 would be “absolutely horrendous” if the pit got the go-ahead.

He added: “Half the village didn’t know there were plans for this.”

The land has been put forward for quarrying operations in the past, but villagers never thought it would make the shortlist.

Christopher Pertwee, of Rectory Road, said: “I don’t think any of us believed it would go through, but it now looks like there is a possibility.

“The exit would be on to the main road and we are on a by-road, so aren’t directly affected. But we don’t want a chalk quarry by us because it blights your house.”

Residents could have to put up with mining operations for more than 20 years, if the plan goes ahead.

Mr Pertwee said: “No one wants a quarry on their doorstep. Just think of the dust and traffic.”

Frating Parish Council is launching a bid to have the site taken off the shortlist.

Chairman Michael Brown said a quarry would “rip the heart out of the village”.

The county council said the list could still change after a public consultation period.