VILLAGERS fighting a campaign to turn a Norfolk wood into a quarry have criticised the planning process as being grossly unfair.Fritton Woods, at Fritton, is on a list of 96 potential sites in the county that could be dug up to supply building materials for future schools and homes in the region.

VILLAGERS fighting a campaign to turn a Norfolk wood into a quarry have criticised the planning process as being grossly unfair.

Fritton Woods, at Fritton, is on a list of 96 potential sites in the county that could be dug up to supply building materials for future schools and homes in the region.

Since the list of preferred quarry sites was published by the county council, Fritton and St Olaves Parish Council has fought any such scheme.

Local people have collected 17,000 signatures for a petition against the quarry consultation.

And this week, the council has sent off a strongly-worded statement to County Hall claiming that the consultation process favours landowners and developers who want to create quarries because they have access to large funds.

The statement says: 'Our council is of the opinion that the present planning system is grossly unfair to the average small village that is the subject of a large, nearly-proposed development.

'At first it appears we have no expertise, no help, insufficient funds to compete... in all, a totally hopeless case.'

The council suspects that the state of affairs has been emulated all over the county.

It complains: 'No one seems to have considered the effects of this type of planning process.'