JUBILANT Wall Heath residents have won yet another battle to prevent more quarrying on the edge of their village.

Staffordshire County Council has ditched a bid by quarry firm FG Davis & Sons to include a large field at Mile Flat, near Wall Heath, as a potential spot for future extraction of sand and gravel.

Councillor Mark Winnington, cabinet member for economy, environment and transport, said: "Following consultation and feedback from local residents in October – December 2014 it was decided the site was not a suitable option and not required."

The council is now preparing to send its Minerals Local Plan - setting out where quarrying could take place around the county over the next 15 years - to the Government.

But the proposal from Wombourne-based FG Davis and Sons is not included.

And Kingswinford North and Wall Heath Councillor Dave Tyler, chairman of the Quarry Fighting Fund, which has already successfully challenged other plans by the company, said: "It is yet another victory for the community of Wall Heath.

"This is, hopefully, the last in a long line of applications to create quarries on the edge of Wall Heath and we should pay credit to the Quarry Fighting Fund and the members of the community for standing shoulder to shoulder behind us in fighting these applications."

Enville Road Quarry in Wall Heath, which had been in operation since the 1930s, closed last year - after an application to extend its licence for 18 months was turned down.

Owners FG Davis & Sons have now restored it to greenery - to the extent that a golden and black hoopoe, a bird from Africa and Europe rarely seen in the UK, was spotted there over the festive period.

Local people, who had complained about traffic, dirt and noise from the quarry, also won a bid in 2012 to persuade Staffordshire planners to reject proposals for a new quarry on another site in Mile Flat, behind Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club.

Staffordshire's minerals industry is estimated to contribute around £255 million a year to the local economy and, in 2013, 661 people were employed in the sector, with many more working in the supply chain and allied industries.

There are around 50 quarries in the county, many producing sand and gravel for the construction industry.

Cllr Winnington said: "The Minerals Local Plan sets out how we will protect our communities and countryside as we manage the extraction of sand, gravel and other natural resources to support the construction industry, our local economy and jobs.

“Having the plan will help us to balance demand from the industry for more quarries and the need to protect our communities and the environment."