THE household waste site in Bilford Road, Worcester, will stay open for another three years, despite objections from local residents.

Mercia Waste Management Ltd has been granted permission to extend the use of the site until the end of June 2006.

Worcestershire County Council's planning and regulatory committee approved the plans earlier this week.

Some local residents wrote to the council to object to any extension of the site's use because they said it was inappropriate in a residential area.

They were concerned about the noise and traffic chaos is caused.

Planning permission for the site was originally given for the Bilford Road site in 1994.

A two-year extension was granted in 2001 and it was expected that the site would have been refurbished by now, or an alternative site found, but neither has happened.

Council officers recommended that the extension be approved because the benefit to a limited number of residents in refusing it was outweighed by the problems that would be created for Worcester residents by closing it before an alternative site was found.

The committee added a condition that a barrier be put up to stop cars mounting the pavement to get past vehicles queuing to enter the tip.