Old Alresford residents have won their two-year battle against the articulated lorries which have been thundering through their once-peaceful village.

Fed up with the noise and disruption from heavy delivery trucks and forklifts rumbling in and out of Alresford Salads, at Manor Farm, the villagers made their voices heard.

Fifteen, including Earl Temple of Stowe, representing the Alresford Society, town councillor, Robin Atkins and council chairman, Bernard Tucker, spoke at a planning inquiry at Winchester Guildhall in May.

Lorries and forklifts were already banned from working at the watercress packing plant in the evenings and on Saturday afternoons and Sundays, but after many complaints about weekend deliveries continuing, the city council slapped an enforcement notice on the plant.

Taking its challenge to a planning enquiry, Geest claimed the restrictions related to the now disused bottling plant, used to make "elderflower champagne" until 1999 and not to the rest of the site. But the challenge was thrown out by planning inspector, Stuart Reid.

He said: "Control currently exists to ensure that for their evenings, their Saturday afternoons and all of their Sundays, the local residents are not harmfully disturbed by goods vehicle and forklift truck movements, nor loading or unloading.

"These are times at which people should reasonably be entitled to expect peace and quiet, so they may enjoy their homes and gardens without undue disturbance.

"I saw these large and noisy goods vehicles moving along very narrow, primarily residential roads. They were very intrusive and disquieting when they travelled along the residential roads, and around the village green, in terms of the noise and disturbance that they caused."

Mr Tucker said: "Naturally, we in the village are delighted. It has been a long struggle to ensure residents have some respite from the juggernauts operating in and out of Manor Farm.

"It is also heartening that big business, for once, has not triumphed against the wishes of 500 people in a small village.

"We are grateful to the city council for its support, but success is also due to the work of a group of parishioners who have spent so much time and energy pursuing this fight to the end."

Giving evidence at the inquiry, Geest projects manager, Frank Hillin, warned the plant could close with the loss of up to 30 jobs if restrictions weren't lifted.

But responding to the inspector's decision, general manager, Gary Pile, said: "We acquired this business just over a year ago and are committed to making it work. We will obviously abide by the planning inspector's decision although we are deeply disappointed by it and will have to find ways of making it work."