A meeting about a proposed lorry park turned out to be a dual protest rally, with the fight against a planned recycling centre also discussed.

Angry villagers have launched a 'Sellindge Says No to Sludge' campaign to protest against the plant, which would convert organic waste at the former Otterpool Quarry in Sellindge, near Ashford.

Residents say it would increase lorry movements on the already busy A20 and are planning a march from the village to the site.

Michael Howard, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, who attended the meeting, said he supported the residents' fight.

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"I object to it and I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you. I will also ask Kent County Council to reject it. I am with you 100 per cent on that."

But, he said, he believed that this was a separate issue from the lorry park.

Sellindge villager Ronald Lellow said: "The quarry site development will bring some 90,000 to 95,000 lorries of waste into our village. It was never built for this huge amount of traffic. I think this and the lorry park issue are linked."

Mr Lellow said that details of a march in protest would shortly be announced and added: "I hope Lympne, Newingreen and the other surrounding villages will do the same. It is very important that we have some strong solidarity."

A petition is also being organised.

A planning application has been put in for a recycling centre and anaerobic digestion plant on the quarry site opposite the Airport Cafe on the A20.

The application, by Country Style Recycling, shows that 152 traffic movements, in and out, are expected on the site. It will take on work for east Kent and be at the forefront of recycling technology.