CROSS Hills' Lynne Cooper doesn't have fairies at the bottom of her garden - she has wagons and fork lift trucks night and day.

Mrs Cooper, of St Andrew's Terrace, has spent the past 10 years listening to noise emitting from Joda Freight - which includes men shouting, machinery in action, wagons warming up, unloading and loading - and she's just about had enough.

She is one of the 10 households on the street who have made numerous complaints to the company, the police, Craven District Council's environmental health department, local councillors and the licensing authority.

"Every time you come home, the noise is there. You can't sit in your garden, you get woken up in the night," she said. "Over the past year it has got to be seven days a week.

"This was a lovely, idyllic place to live. When the sun was shining, it was nice to go into the garden and have some peace and quiet. It has spoilt our homes," Mrs Cooper added.

She also claims to have witnessed men urinating in the yard, which borders her back garden, heard them beep their horns to each other in the early hours of the morning and heard strong language coming over the hedge.

Now she and other residents are calling for the company to leave.

She and neighbours, Dorothy and Brian Appleby, have lived on the street for over 20 years, and say the arrival of the freight company has destroyed their quality of life.

Mr Appleby said: "The company is totally in the wrong place. No-one realises what a nightmare it actually is. We are at our wit's end. We get no pleasure from working in our garden which is the reason we bought the house."

The residents were delighted when they heard that the company had submitted plans to create new facilities on the Crossings Business Park, but have received no reassurance that it will leave its former site.

Mrs Cooper said that there was a danger that as the business expanded, the amount of wagons would increase and the problems would continue. Mr Appleby added that even if the firm did move, there was no guarantee what would take its place.

Joanne Bradley, another resident, said that the company had been very amenable to her when she had made complaints, but that the situation had worsened shortly afterwards.

"They have always made the time whenever I have gone to talk to them, but you can't make a lorry quiet," she said.

The residents feel that despite the efforts of the company, including posters asking the men to respect the residents, it was simply the wrong place for such a business.

Tim Bassett, environmental health officer for Craven District Council, said the department had received two or three complaints over the last couple of years, but no complaints since February about the site.

He said he had told the complainants to come back to him with specific details including dates and times about the alleged noise pollution from the site.

Mr Bassett said every time a complaint was made he had contacted Dave Waring, a partner at the firm, who he said had "done his best" and told drivers to be more considerate.

He added he had not been informed of any fork lift truck movements during the night, but would look into the matter.

The residents have also sent complaints to the Traffic Commission, the statutory independent licensing authority. It is responsible for licensing passenger transport and HGV operators.

A spokeswoman for the Commission said the company's operating licence was up for renewal today (Friday) and that it was due to be renewed for a further five years.

However, she added three letters had been received about noise emissions from the depot and officers from the Commission were trying to gather information from Joda Freight. The Traffic Commissioner will then decide if a review of the operating licence is required.

She added that the Traffic Commissioner would have several options including calling the company to a public inquiry or putting conditions on the licence.

Joda Freight has refused to comment about the residents' complaints.