Scores attend Essington protest over DX Freight £36m headquarters

Villagers say proposals put forward by DX Freight - formerly Nightfreight - to put a distribution centre in Hobnock Road will ruin their way of life.

Yesterday, up to 80 protesters gathered at the entrance to the 43-acre site to demonstrate against the plans.

Residents voiced concerns about increased traffic and the loss of greenbelt land. The firm plans to move its headquarters and 400 staff from Willenhall to the new Essington site.

One protester, who asked not to be named, said she feared hundreds of HGVs would descend on the site every day if the move was given the go ahead.

"We haven't got the infrastructure to be able to deal with a development of this scale," she said.

"It will bring noise and air pollution, and lights on 24 hours a day that will be visible from miles away.

"What we have got is wildlife and children's safety to consider. We feel very strongly in Essington about this."

Many of the demonstrators held placards bearing the words 'Essington says no to DX Freight super hub'.

Signs featuring the same motto had also been erected at the mini-roundabout on Bursnips Road and along Hobnock Road.

South Staffordshire Council classes the land as brownfield as it has been previously developed, although it is part of the greenbelt.

Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, said: "People don't want to see the erosion of greenbelt or the loss of identity of the villages they live in."

A public meeting was due to take place at Essington Community Centre tonight, which bosses from DX Freight are due to attend.