Families in Frampton Cotterell are fighting plans to open a garage and MOT centre on a site surrounded by houses.

They say it is the wrong place to run the business – which is set to operate seven days a week – because of the noise of the operation and the pollution it would cause as a result of engines running.

Householders have already sent their complaints to South Gloucestershire Council and also took their case unsuccessfully to Frampton Cotterell Parish Council.

Although parish leaders had raised no objection to the scheme, the families hoped to persuade them to change their minds.

Father-of-two Marc Willett said many of those opposing the scheme had children and they were especially worried about their health and safety. He said the site in Woodend Road was also on a busy junction and close to two schools.

Plans submitted by Paul Endicott, of Coalpit Heath, said the site had previously been used as a vehicle maintenance garage and it was proposed to demolish a building already on the plot so it could be replaced with something bigger.

But Mr Willett, 35, a marketing manager, said the garage had only been used by a man as a hobby workshop and, since he left, the premises had been unoccupied.

Mr Willett said he and his wife Lucy had lived in their home close to the plot for two years with their children, Ruby, four, and two-year-old Oliver, and had never seen the garage in use. He said: "If there hadn't been a workshop there before, this would never get planning permission because it is surrounded by houses.

"People who have lived here longer than us said in the past there was only the odd car at the garage. This application is for a seven-day-a-week operation, even opening on Sundays from 8am to 2pm and on bank holidays..

"It will also be 67 per cent bigger than what's there at the moment."

Neighbour Niall Murphy said it was unreasonable to place such a business in an area with a high density of homes and large number of children.

He said the proposed opening hours were excessive and he was worried that hazardous waste would be kept on the site.

Frampton Cotterell Parish Council raised no objection to the scheme, provided no car sales were carried out on the site and the building materials matched neighbouring properties.

The neighbours have also met environmental health officers and now have to wait for South Gloucestershire's development control committee to determine the application.