A NEW quarry blast alert system has been launched for neighbours near Thornbury. 

The notification service has been released for residents living in the surrounding area next to Tytherington Quarry.

It can be received via email or a text, including a weekly update which will advise of planned blast times for the week ahead.

The alert will also post a follow-up notification 30 minutes before each blast takes place.

Tytherington Unit Manager James Brown said: “We usually blast around once a week - with feedback from our community drop-in event in March highlighting that local people wanted more information about this. 

“This new messaging service is an effective way of letting people know about our planned 
blasting activity and many residents have already signed up.”

He added: “The UK has stringent controls in place for quarry blasting and these are set out as part of the quarry’s planning and permitting consents. 

“Operating within these standards at Tytherington, as we do at all our quarries, means that the blasts are safe and there is no damage to nearby homes or buildings.”

Extracting limestone in Tytherington goes back over 150 years.

Today the quarry supplies around 1.8 million tonnes of aggregate per year for use in making ready-mixed and precast concrete products, as well as asphalt for use in road construction and maintenance. 

Tytherington Quarry is run by building materials company Heidelberg Materials - formerly known as Hanson UK.

The historic Tytherington site first opened in 1872 and was closed from 2013 to 2017.

It eventually reopened in autumn 2018 and is also connected to the Thornbury branch railway line.

Officials previously said materials from Tytherington may be used in the Buckover garden village in Thornbury and potentially Sizewell C nuclear power station in East Suffolk.

To sign up to the blasting notifications, people should email tytheringtonquarryenquiries@uk.heidelbergmaterials.com