More than 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste could be dumped at a Sussex village.

Batteries, electrical cables, fluorescent light tubes and contaminated soil could be buried in a landfill site planned for an area close to woodland on the edge of South Chailey, near Lewes.

Lloyds Environmental Waste Management, which owns the land at Old Hamsey Brickworks, wants the first lorries carrying waste to arrive by September next year.

People in the village, once famous for its potteries, were learning of the plans today.

There have already been protests against changes to planning conditions at Old Hamsey Brickworks.

Lewes MP Norman Baker and Lewes District Council raised concerns two years ago over the sustainability of a waste treatment plant at the site.

There have also been concerns over traffic generated by the treatment of waste.

Lloyds Environmental has now applied to East Sussex County Council for permission to construct a 2.2-hectare landfill site and a recycling plant.

It already has permission to build a sewage works on the 20-acre brownfield site, which it partly uses for offices.

The company's 12-year plan would mean 120,000 tonnes of waste being transported to the village from all over the county.

It put the proposals forward following the European Union Landfill Directive on July 16, which banned mixing hazardous waste with domestic or household rubbish.

Before the directive, the practice of mixing waste took place at landfill sites at Beddingham, near Lewes, and Pebsham, near Hastings.

There are no specialist sites to process hazardous waste in the South-East - the nearest are in Peterborough and Swindon - and there are fears the region could be hit by an increase in the illegal dumping of commercial waste.

Paul Segal, a director of Lloyds Environmental, said: "The issue of waste disposal is one which the whole community must address.

"While we realise people will have concerns, the amount of waste society produces means we all have a role to play in being a part of the solution as much as a part of the problem."

He said the company would listen to local residents' concerns and hold a full public consultation exercise before submitting its planning application this autumn.

Wednesday August 11, 2004