Northamptonshire County Council's development control committee yesterday passed Hanson Quarry Products' plans to extract 2.6 million tonnes of sand and gravel from a site in Grendon Road, Earls Barton.

A 274-acre site will be worked on for the next 15 years, with minerals being extracted up to a depth of 14 feet.

The council decided to agree the plans despite major concerns being expressed by a number of residents during the meeting.

The chairman of the Save the Nene Valley Action Group, Ted Barnes, told councillors: "We've got 117 lakes and bogs in the Nene Valley now which have made it a virtual wasteland.

"These plans would be for the biggest excavation site in the county, but nobody apart from us seems to care.

"Who is going to say 'stop'? If this is approved that area as we know it will be gone forever."

He was backed by South Northamptonshire Council member Steven Hollowell (Ind, Brafield and Yardley), who also opposed the scheme.

He said: "As a child, I often used to walk through the Nene Valley. Then there were acres of flood meadows and fields.

"Today, because of the quarrying, the fields have gone. If more quarries are dug, the results will be felt by the communities for generations to come."

Hanson has said it expects up to 117 lorries a day to use the site when it is up and running.

Once quarrying has been completed, it will be restored to a mixture of agricultural land, flood meadow, wet grassland, reed beds, open water and woodland.

Development control committee member, Councillor John Yates (Lib Dem, Boughton Green) said: "People have always known this development would come.

"I'm pleased a large amount of the land will be returned to agricultural use."

After discussing the plans for over an hour, the committee gave its unanimous backing to the scheme.