ENERGY giant EDF's proposals to base hundreds of construction workers, a park and ride and freight store Cannington village will swamp and "traumatise" the community, an action group has warned.

About 400 people have joined the Save Cannington Action Group, and they devised their own proposals.

They include a radical alternative to EDF's proposed bypass – which aims to take construction traffic to and from the planned Hinkley C nuclear power station.

The group's dedicated access road would cut across the Levels, north of Bridgwater.

They say a bridge, which would be needed where their road crosses the River Parrett, could also be designed as a major flood defence and could carry high tension cables.

The group also fears the impact of a 900-space park and ride – one of four proposed across Sedgemoor and West Somerset – and of two campuses for a total of 320 workers.

EDF also propoes spreading the 2,400 non-local workers it believes it will need across the same area, with campuses at Hinkley Point, in Bridgwater, and at Williton, as well as Cannington.

Perhaps unsurprisingly the man chairing the protest group, Alan Beasley, has spent 46 years in the nuclear industry.

Much of his career has been on nuclear sites – including Hinkley.

He stresses the group "is not anti-nuclear and is non-political".

He said: "A large proportion of its supporters work in, or have contacts with, the nuclear industry.

"We acknowledge that new power stations are required and, if nuclear, then Hinkley Point is a good place to start. But we don't want the villages or Bridgwater to be traumatised."

Danesborough, his detached home on Cannington's western edge looks out over a farm field used by Brymore, the school which specialises in farming.

The field is one of the options proposed by EDF for the park and ride scheme.

EDF suggests a bypass at the eastern or western end of the village, but prefers the western option, which would bring heavy traffic closer to Mr Edwards' home.

The company began public consultations on its proposals at the end of last month and stresses it is committed to being a good neighbour, and to leaving lasting benefits for the community.

Its campuses would include restaurants and leisure facilities, but Mr Beasley fears hundreds of possibly single and foreign men will swamp the existing community of around 2,500 adults.

He said: "How long will it be before rape, national conflict, hard drugs, drunkenness, family trauma and fouled pavements start to swell statistics. Who will police it?"

The parish council is conducting a survey on the matter and called an open meeting in Cannington College main hall on January 5.

Online reader's comment.

Alex Reed, of Cannington, said: "The proposed construction workers hostel, park and ride and freight transfer facility on the outskirts of our village will cause social problems, noise and light pollution.

The intention is to substantially increase the village population and the majority of workers will be single men who will work hard and no doubt play hard as well as be undisciplined.

We will be turned into a 'frontier town'.

The proposed bypasses will not suffice as the increased heavy plant and incoming traffic will still have to go through Bridgwater.

A bypass from Dunball to the existing Hinkley Point road is the only option.

Last summer we endured the traffic problems with the bridge closure by Chilton.

Hinkley traffic will snarl Bridgwater right up.

The sites as suggested are on greenbelt land.

There are three existing redundant ex-industrial sites in Bridgwater that would serve the purpose.

The old BCL site would be ideally situated.