There were angry scenes last night as 50 residents confronted a firm which wants to build an asbestos depot near their homes.

Debbie Hales set up a meeting over plans for her firm Asbestos First's base, a former gritting depot in North Dane Way, Lordswood.

She told residents it could become a vital place for asbestos removal firms to bring small amounts of the deadly material cheaply - double-bagged and stored in locked skips - before it is moved elsewhere.

She said it would reduce fly-tipping, be more responsible and better regulated than it is now.

But those who live a few hundred yards from the site were hostile.

Howls of anger shouted her down when she said "it won't affect property prices".

An employee of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors claimed house prices would drop at least 30%.

And there were shouts, screams and loud heckles when Mrs Hales said "it isn't fully residential, it's on the outskirts."

The site is a few hundred yards from a play area, Lordswood Leisure Centre and Swingate and Spinnens Acre schools, whose head teacher attended the meeting.

Medway Council's planning chief Dave Harris, who chaired the meeting, appealed for calm several times.

He said Asbestos First made their application earlier this year without seeking advice.

After taking the council's advice, they withdrew it so they could do more to reassure frightened residents.

Farley Close resident Lyn Reed, who arranged a petition with more than 1,000 signatures, said: "It isn't on your customer's doorstep, it isn't on your doorstep, it's on ours."

Asbestos is already carried on and off the site, but currently cannot be unloaded from vans.

The Environment Agency had no objection to the previous scheme.

Mrs Hales said she had searched for a site for five years before buying the old gritting depot.

But retired safety expert Mel Maher, of Courtfield Avenue, said: "I don't believe that because you could have built a new site somewhere else."

Many of those attending had personal traumas. Medway is the second-worst area in the country for deaths from asbestos-related disease.

"My father died of it," said Ballans Road resident Ian McKeand. "The legions that grew between his ribs in the last six months of his life are not worth describing."

Former resident Mavis Nye added: "I'm dying of mesothelioma. I got it washing [my husband] Ray's clothes, that's all. So you don't know that you're keeping everything contained."

"I'm dying of mesothelioma. I got it washing my husband's clothes. So you don't know that you're keeping everything contained" - Mavis Nye

Ward councillor Alan Jarrett (Con) said: "Once the genie's out of the bottle, once the disaster's happened, it's too late. It's a mini-Chernobyl."

Kempton Close resident Adrian Griffiths added: "You're a magnet for unscrupulous builders who will leave it outside your gates for you to clean up."

Mrs Hales said there would be CCTV, a keyholder within a mile of the site 24 hours a day and a disaster emergency plan.

Residents focused intensely on the detail. When Mrs Hales explained how each bag is wiped down, one resident shouted: "And what happens to the last wipe?"

Others warned cars are often torched near the boundary fence.

And Aintree Road resident Melody Stokes slammed poor publicity over the meeting, which also changed venues at the last minute to Chatham's Bridgewood Manor Hotel.

"Why the heck did we only get four days' notice?" she shouted. "Half of Lordswood's not even here because most of us work!"

One resident said: "All companies want to expand. All companies want to make profit. What will your planning application be in five years?"

Mrs Hales said no-one could ever give a 100% safety guarantee. Neither could she rule out expanding in future.

But she said: "We're a family-run business. We've been running for 25 years. We're not allowed to do what we do without permission from the Health and Safety Executive.

"The regulations are pretty fierce. It has to be an impermeable surface, it has to have drainage, he has to have CCTV, and on top of that I work in the office [next to it] every day.

"It's in our lives, it's around. That's not my fault - I didn't put the asbestos in the buildings. I spend all my time trying to prevent people from getting exposed."

A new planning application is yet to be lodged.