DUST from a demolition site in North Malvern is ruining homes and gardens, claims a local resident.

For several weeks, contractors have been knocking down buildings of the former Society Linen/Co-operative Laundry in Yates Hay Road.

Problems from the dust have got so bad that something should be done, says Fiona Davies, who lives next door to the site.

She said: "I put up with it for a while, but I decided that enough was enough.

"It is almost an inch thick on my car; you can hardly see what colour it is. It's formed a thick film on my pond and I don't know what its doing to the fish and frogs. I'm having to clean the house every day and I can't hang my washing out.

"My neighbour is really upset, she's not in the best of health and she has to breathe this stuff.

"She cannot get out of her house to do her garden."

"My family is in the building trade and my brother-in-law said all they have to do is use water to keep the dust down."

Malcolm Robinson, environmental health officer for Malvern Hills District Council, said he visited the site on Wednesday afternoon.

He said he told contractors to stop work until water-spraying equipment was in place.

A spokesman for Demolition UK, who refused to give his name, said residents should let the company know if there is a problem.

The laundry, which has occupied the site since the 1930s, closed its doors a year ago, putting some 70 employees out of work.

A planning application to build 40 houses on the site was made in April by David Payne Homes of Bromsgrove, but has now been withdrawn.

A spokesman from the company declined to comment.