FEARS are growing in the quarrying industry that stringent new rules on sound levels could result in businesses being forced to shut down.

The Quarry Products Association has raised concerns about new Government proposals on the regulation of noise levels which limit machinery to 42 decibels - the same as a public library!

Mark Gaskell, managing director of Southworth Quarry in Croft, said that meeting such targets would be "impossible" and that 40-50 jobs there would be affected if the sandstone quarry had to close.

He said: "The actual quarry equipment currently in use just doesn't meet any of those requirements."

But he stressed that he was not taking the latest fears too seriously at the moment.

Simon Van Der Byl, director general of Quarry Products Association, said: "These new proposals would devastate the quarrying industry and make most quarries inoperable."

But Gary Nancarrow, of Warrington Borough Council's community services department, said: "The proposed guidelines didn't strike me as unreasonable."

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