RESIDENTS locked in battle with a Padiham firm over alleged dust and fibrous emissions are planning to protest outside the company's gates when Prince Andrew visits next month.

People living in Waterside Mews have been complaining for many years that their health and quality of life are being damaged by emissions from Equestrian Surfaces, in Station Road, and they have been angered by the announcement of the Royal Visit.

But bosses at the firm said they had recently altered their materials and working practices in response to residents' complaints and were hoping to move to an industrial site in Great Harwood in the next 18 months.

In the same week the royal visit was announced, the firm - which specialises in the development and manufacture of surfaces for horse riding - won the Outstanding Export Achievement Award at the first ever Burnley Business and Innovation Awards, and this has fuelled residents' anger.

The Duke of York is visiting the company in his Royal role as Special Representative for International Trade and Investors.

But Gerald Thompson, of Waterside Mews, believes the visit could give locals a chance to get their own high-profile message across. He said: "The problem is that the industrial site it has chosen is so close to our residential area that we are affected by dust and emissions that prevail with this type of operation but they don't seem to take any reasonable precautions at this site. This firm is in the wrong place.

"Our cars are covered in dust, when we clean our windows there is a black dust that is sticky and causes us problems.

"We feel that when Prince Andrew visits we will be out there with placards. We need to let people know that the real picture is not a bed of roses."

In the most recent incident involving the firm half a tonne of fibres spilled into Green Brook, a tributary of the River Calder, when a warehouse at the rear of its Station Road site collapsed.

A black film covered the brook and blocked the flow of water and the Environment Agency was brought into clear up the mixture of rubber and nylon fibres.

Marketing manager for the firm, Philip Bond, who will be giving Prince Andrew a tour of the premises when he visits on Thursday, July 8, said they were no longer using the fibrous material that spilled into Green Brook and that the fine sand used for the surfaces, which was giving rise to the dust was now being handled under cover.

He said: "In direct response to the concerns raised by residents we have put a stop on the fibrous material we were using, which was easily airborne and have changed the handling procedure for another.

"In the long term we hope to move away from this residential area and are in negotiations with Hyndburn Council over an industrial site.

"With the best will in the world event with the change of materials and handling procedures residents would still be concerned and the only way to resolve this is for us to re-locate."