Villagers complain as abattoir increases production

Locals said they were unhappy with the increased traffic and other issues

Residents of a Warwickshire village have complained about an abattoir which has recently been taken over by new owners.

There has been an abattoir in Arley for more than 100 years but residents said it had mostly gone unnoticed until recently.

They said its new owners, who recently acquired the site at Rowleys Butchers on Ansley Lane, had increased production and that this had negatively affected quality of life for locals.

The BBC has contacted the abattoir’s owners for a comment.

People living nearby said roads had become more congested with delivery trucks, and that pavements were being blocked by large lorries.

One woman said: “We’ve got huge HGV transporters coming into the village, trying to manoeuvre onto the site.

“They’re going up the pavement, they’re coming onto other people’s property,

Another said: “I live directly opposite the abattoir and the smell is horrendous.

“They come with big tankers to take away the blood.”

The abattoir's new owners have expanded the site and increased production

The site’s new owners have extended the abattoir to include two new animal pens at the rear, and added steel shutters to the outside of the building as well as expanding the existing forecourt.

The work was done without planning permission, but a retrospective application has since been submitted.

Warwickshire County Council’s highways department said it would not support intensified use of the site, however.

“The existing accesses are poor,” it said in a letter, in which it also stated that lorries seemingly driving over kerbs was unacceptable.

Severn Trent Water has also inspected the site and ordered the owners not to allow run-off from the slaughtering process to enter their drains.

It declined requests from the BBC to comment on the complaints.