A £4 MILLION wool scouring plant which opened two years ago at Low Mill, Addingham, after fierce opposition from residents, is to relocate.

Straume (UK) Ltd told the Gazette this week it would be moving its business to somewhere 'south of Bradford' in the near future.

Group managing director Stuart Gair said: "We have come to the conclusion that being located here is not a viable place for a wool scouring operation.

"We haven't as yet decided on alternative premises. It will be close to our customer base which is south of Bradford and below the M62."

He said no decision had yet been made as to what would happen to Low Mill itself. "What the future will be? No, I don't know," he said. "There are various planning restrictions. How we best market the property or what we do with it - I'm in the process of discussing that with some property consultants."

Mr Gair said Low Mill - near the site one of the UK's oldest spinning mills - was too small for the company's needs. "We have about 60,000sq ft of mill. We probably need about 100-120,000sq ft."

He claimed the move would not cause any job losses. Straume currently employs about 43 people - none of them from Addingham. "There will be no direct impact on local employment," said Mr Gair. "I would say most of our employees travel from Keighley or Bradford."

The move is apparently unconnected to a decision taken by mill bosses in June to cut the plant's shift pattern from five days a week to four due to the foot and mouth crisis. Seven people were laid off at the time. "There's a lot of uncertainty in the textile industry at this time," said Mr Gair. "The shift pattern will stay the same for the foreseeable future but it's unrelated to the move."

And he scotched rumours that the business would move to the recently closed W and J Whitehead wool combing factory at Laisterdyke, Bradford. "That was one site we have looked at," he said. "But...the receiver has sold it to someone else. It's not an option."

Low Mill villagers - many of whom waged a lengthy campaign opposing the scouring plant before it opened - greeted the news yesterday with a mixture of relief and apprehension.

Clive Loughlin, of Old Lane, said: "I'm very pleased really. I feel we have got our village back. It was always a totally inappropriate place for a factory and we fought it all the way."

He said the smell from the plant was, at times, overpowering. "They would leave the doors to the warehouse open and then we'd get the smell of the raw wool.

"You'd go out into your garden on a sunny day and get this disgusting waft in your face and it made being in the gardens on some occasions terrible. We asked them umpteen times to close it but they never did. Basically they showed no concern at all for the well-being of the village."

Tony and Marion Hirst, of Old Lane, said they were delighted that the plant would be moving. "They are not good neighbours and the company hasn't endeared itself to us," said Mr Hirst. "They assured us there'd be no noise and no smell and there has been both."

He said articulated lorries parking up overnight on the village's narrow street had also angered residents.

His wife added: "There has been the most awful smell of wool emanating from it."

She said she had also been worried about possible health risks caused by chemicals from the factory. "And all the trees have died or are dying off that are in direct line with the steam coming from the mill."

The couple said they would be happy to see the site sold off for industrial use. "We don't mind anybody who's prepared to work with the village," said Mr Hirst.

Ian Wilson, whose house on Old Lane overlooks the plant, said villagers' initial concerns about noise and smell from the plant had been borne out.

"I have a feeling of 'I told you so' that it wouldn't work and that some of the promises that were made about it not being smelly were not fulfilled. Now it won't smell so much and there'll be less heavy traffic.

"But my anxiety is what's going to take its place. With that amount of investment it's obviously going to have to be used by somebody else. I just want to be sure that it's not noisy or smelly nor adding greatly to the traffic."

Parish council chairman Gordon Campbell was meeting with mill bosses yesterday afternoon to discuss the planned move.

"I presume they want to talk to us about moving all the machinery and about what will happen to the mill. That's my concern," he said.

He said the closure of the mill would be beneficial for Addingham. "I have no doubt environmentally it will be an advantage that's probably to the benefit of the area."