THE Government has been forced into giving an official response after a petition for the deeply unpopular freight hub in Borough Green, Wrotham and Platt received more than 500 signatures.

Rob Payne, of St Mary's Road, Wrotham, who instigated the online document, is pleased with the response so far, but has urged more people to join the fight.

He said: "If we get a really good response, the Government could well reply before the year is up so the more people who sign it the more pressure we can bring the bear.

"I would think about 12,000 people throughout Borough Green, Wrotham and the other villages are likely to be affected if this goes ahead, so we should at least get 2,000 or 3,000 to sign the petition."

Mr Payne started the petition in June and it has a year to run. It has quickly gained momentum through links on the Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE) website and other local websites. Already it is one of the top 200 e-petitions on the Number10.gov.uk website.

The campaign against the hub has been taken on board by the CPRE and is backed by parish councils and action groups in Borough Green, Wrotham and the surrounding villages.

The proposal involves a rail freight interchange depot on 265 acres of land between the A227 and A20.

It has been put forward as a rival to the Kent International Gateway (KIG) proposed at Bearsted, near Maidstone and developers are offering to pay for part of the long-awaited Borough Green Bypass.

Mr Payne said: "What worries us most is the traffic. We can already hear the trains from here and if the freight hub is built there will be all the extra lorries.

"It will be a 24-hour operation and there will be noise and light pollution."

House prices had already been affected by the threat of a freight hub, he said, even though official plans for the scheme are not expected to be submitted until next year.

"It won't create local employment, but it will create a lot more traffic and we don't have the infrastructure to cope," he said.

"The bypass route will also create areas of land which are likely to be infilled with houses later on and Borough Green will just become a sprawling town where nobody wants to come and live."

A second public meeting is due to be held in the autumn and the CPRE is in the process of forming an executive committee to fight the proposal.

An inquiry is due to begin in October into the controversial KIG plan for Bearsted. Cemex, Borough Green Sandpits and other parties who support the alternative Borough Green scheme are expected to make their case during the hearing.

To sign the petition go to number10.gov.uk and follow the links to e-petitions.

To find out more about the campaign go to www.big.protectkent.org.uk