ANGER was the order of the day in the Malvern Gazette 25 years ago.

Residents of Geraldine Road and Court Road were furious about processions of heavy lorries carrying earth out of the RSRE (now QinetiQ) site.

The earth-moving was being done to clear a space for new buildings on the site.

Some people signed a petition to Malvern Hills District Council saying the lorries were doing severe environmental damage and shaking houses, to the distress of sick and elderly inhabitants.

There were also complaints that mud was falling off the lorries and fouling the roads.

Meanwhile, people living around Wells Common were also up in arms as all the mud and earth being transported by the lorries was ending up there.

About 20,000 tons of earth was dumped on the common, filling in a marl pit and altering the contours of the landscape. What really irked residents was that they were given little or no warning about the scale of the operation.

The marl pit, they said, filled with water in wet weather, becoming virtually the "village pond", and was much used by children, who used to sail toy boats on it.

Malvern Hills Conservators, who allowed the work to go ahead, came under fire for their decision, with criticism coming both from residents and Malvern Hills District Council.