Top gear's former test driver The Stig supports calls to prevent a landfill being built in Devon which could endanger the safety of children and increase traffic.
Ben Collins, who previously set the lap times for cars tested on the popular TV programme, fears the proposed site near Enterprise Avenue in Tiverton will lead to traffic congestion and endanger children and cyclists using the area.
Locals insist the opposition is not due to 'Nimbyism', but they are concerned about traffic and fear the plot could be used to dispose of nuclear waste in the future – a claim denied by the council.
Waste management company Decharge Ltd is seeking council approval to transport tonnes of material, including soil, rocks and inert building materials – up to a three-quarter mile lot near homes.
Under the plan, 40-ton trucks would pass through the estate's narrow roads “every 7.5 minutes,” the documents said.
The land proposed for waste disposal was previously used as an illegal dumping area.
Ben Collins, who previously set the lap times for cars tested on the popular TV programme, fears the proposed site near Enterprise Avenue in Tiverton will lead to traffic congestion and endanger children and cyclists using the area.
Mr Collins, who appeared on the BBC show from 2003 to 2010, criticized the application as 'absurd'.
He said: 'I've looked at the route and it's clearly a death trap.
“If there is an alternative to use a main road and build an additional intersection it would save time and money for the project, which is understandable because you have to get the land somewhere, but you wouldn't have to spend a little have to drive a bit. track in a residential area near a children's playground.
'It just doesn't make sense.
'Hopefully there will be some insight from Devon County Council who will reject this, but the fact that it is coming back is worrying for the people who live here.
'Trucks plowing through village communities on a small road, through a high concentration of schools, that simply doesn't make sense.'
Mr Collins believes it could be more cost-effective and time-efficient to create a new waste interchange along the A361 and use the current main road.
Mr Collins, who appeared on the BBC show from 2003 to 2010, criticized the application as 'absurd'
“Once it's established here, it will be an endless train of trucks, and there's simply no room for that; There's already plenty of CCTV footage here from Braid Park residents showing where these trucks would go, and they can't fit past each other.
'You can see that the structure of this road is designed for slow and light traffic, and a lot of people cycle here.
“You see a lot of kids playing, learning to walk or ride a bike for the first time, and it's so narrow there's no white line down the middle.
“People who have seen trucks trying to get through here, they can't do that on the road. They'll just drive straight onto the sidewalk where children are walking or playing and people will get killed, and if push comes to shove, I will. if necessary, lie in the road until they feel like it.'
He added: 'Tiverton has a great history, it's a market town, it's growing, and this is also a conservation area near the canal with small and weak historic bridges and a vibrant community that should not be bashed and vandalized and treated as a highway.
'Hopefully common sense will prevail, but in the meantime it will be very painful for the local population to oppose this when it really shouldn't be necessary.'
In response, a spokesperson for Decharge Ltd played down concerns about traffic.
They said: 'With the small number of vehicles using the lane leading to Uplowman Road, the frequency of vehicles traveling in opposite directions as a result of the proposed scheme is likely to be low.
'As the majority of these interactions are believed to be those of trucks transporting material to the filling area, it is proposed that the site operator will use vehicles equipped with CB radios so that drivers can radio ahead to ensure that the way is clear.'
Devon County Council also reiterated that the site will only accept inert waste. They said: 'This is not a request from the Council but will be determined by our Development Management Committee, taking full account of the comments made by the local community in response to the Council's consultation.
'A temporary landfill is proposed solely for the disposal of inert construction, demolition and excavation waste. The definition of 'inert' clearly does not extend to nuclear waste.”