Planning permission has been granted to build an asbestos dump at Stowey Quarry, despite fears from Bristol Water that it could pollute drinking water in Chew Valley Lake.

Councillors sitting on Bath and North East Somerset Council's development committee voted to approve the controversial application, which will see the site take up to 150, 0000 tonnes of the deadly building material over a ten-year period.

Residents living close to the site will also face road disruption with plans for 100 vehicles a day accessing the site.

Councillors granted their approval after hearing that the final decision would be in the hands of the Environment Agency. The agency will have to approve and inspect the lining of clay and impermeable material placed beneath the asbestos to ensure there is no leakage before issuing an Environmental Permit.

Bristol Water described the plan as "inappropriate" and objected because of the risk to the water source at Chew Valley reservoir, which provides water to homes across the Bristol and Bath area.

Parish councils at Clutton, Stowey Sutton and Hinton Blewett are all opposed to the development, fearing both water contamination and problems with the road infrastructure.

Neighbouring residents also sought assurance that measures would be taken to stop asbestos fibres being released into the air.

The application states that the base and walls of the landfill cells will be lined with compacted clay. On top of this there will be impermeable liners.

Each cell will also have a built in leachate extraction point to allow leachate to be drained to a collection tank.

To avoid the dispersion of asbestos fibres, the deposited waste will be sprinkled with water and immediately covered with a 25cm layer of inert material.

Up to 1m of inert fill will be applied at the end of each working day.

Dust and leachate monitoring will also be a legal requirement at the site.