A NATIONAL organisation has launched a campaign to slash the number of quarrying projects in Lancashire.

The Council for the Protection of Rural England has launched the official protest after the results of a survey into the quarrying industry.

The group has revealed planning permission has been granted for enough projects to ensure a 31-year supply of crushed rock in the county.

A public enquiry is currently being held into proposals to develop a sand and gravel quarry at Euxton.

Construction company Tarmac and village campaigners calling themselves ERASE are presenting their cases ahead of a final decision by Lancashire County Council on its mineral and waste plan.

The CPRE is claiming the region's countryside is being eaten away and has called for new restrictions to halt the work.

The group wants to see a tax on the quarrying industry, clampdowns on projects which are environmentally damaging and a streamlining of policy to ensure schemes are only approved where there is a need for the product.

A spokeswoman said: "Already 500 million tons of sand, gravel and rock is quarried in the north west and there's no sign of the industry slowing down.

"There is now a huge backlog of planning permissions. The government has to fulfil its promise to give the countryside greater protection."

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