RESIDENTS living near British Salt Ltd are demanding to know why nothing is being done about salt dust coating their property a year after they complained to the firm.

In March last year Fred Langley, of Hutchins Close, told the Guardian that deposits of dust, which he believed were caused by British Salt, were coating cars, windows and gardens in the surrounding area.

More than 12 months later his son Alan, who has lived in Hutchins Close for 37 years, claims the problem is still occurring and is demanding answers from Congleton Borough Council.

He said: "There is a fine layer of salt dust all over the cars.

"I reported this to the council on Friday afternoon and they said they would send an officer up.

"They haven't been out to take some samples, they said they would send a pollution control officer but they haven't.

"Have they discovered where it has come from, are they aware of any health risks and will it damage property?"

Alan says there is also an issue with noise pollution, which has not been addressed properly.

He said: "It sounds like a hamster going round in a wheel. I know other people in Cledford have complained about this too.

"Do they think it's right that we have to put up with this?"

David Steven, operation manager at British Salt Ltd, explained that Congleton Borough Council officers have been carrying out regular dust monitoring along Booth Lane every week for the past 12 months and believes that the factory is not to blame.

He said: "If Mr Langley has a deposit on his car we are convinced it is not from the British Salt site."

A spokeswoman for the borough council said officers have been working with CW10residents to address the problem.

She said: "This is an ongoing situation that involves eliminating lines of inquiry as much as identifying sources of noise and dust.

"Work to reduce noise levels in some areas has already been carried out and dust levels are monitored both by the industry itself and the Environmental Health Service."