Residents living in the shadow of the Staffordshire meat rendering plant dealing with the Suffolk turkey carcasses last night spoke of their fears of becoming a dumping ground.

A campaign group set up 15 years ago to represent the interests of residents living near John Pointon & Sons factory in Cheddleton said they had serious concerns about the dangers posed by spillages from trucks entering the plant.

David Fielden, secretary and co-ordinator of the Cheddleton Residents' Action Group (CRAG) said there were safety fears over possible exposure to diseased birds, and they believed the carcasses should not have been taken out of the exclusion zone in Suffolk.

"People are very, very worried about this," he said. "We say these carcasses should be incinerated on site within the exclusion zone like they did with BSE.

"It would be lovely to think this was a unique outbreak, but I don’t think that’s the case. It could be the first of many. We don’t want this to become a dumping ground.

"Transporting them 216 miles across the country is an unnecessary risk.

He added: "It happened last year half a mile from the factory and there was blood and carcasses all over the carriageway. What if that happens and the wind is blowing towards us?"

Carcasses are transported to the factory in sealed trucks, where they are chopped up very finely and 'cooked' so the fat can be skimmed off, then compressed into pellets. These are then transported to another site for incineration.

The company deals with meat waste from supermarkets and has also handled culled cattle from the BSE outbreak and later the foot-and-mouth crisis.

Mr Fielden said the noxious odours from the plant meant residents lives were often blighted.

"The air is thick and sweet with the smell of rotting animals," he said. "Last July it was awful – the smell can blight your life when the wind is in the right direction.

"We couldn't have our windows open so we were forced to go out for the day to get away from it.

A spokesman for Defra said the turkey carcasses were being transported in sealed units and the drivers had been issued with the necessary movement licences.

Nearly 160,000 turkeys from the Bernard Matthews farm in Holton are being culled as experts still work to try to find the source of the outbreak, identified on Saturday as the H5N1 strain which has killed 164 people since January 2003, mainly in Asia and the Middle East.

Environment Secretary David Miliband said the carcasses were being transported "under escort in sealed, leak-proof lorries" to the rendering plant in Staffordshire.

He said "full protection" had been put in place for workers dealing with the dead birds and the public living near the plant. Workers at the factory farm have been offered the anti-viral Tamiflu and are being monitored and seen by doctors.   

 Defra has set up a restricted area of more than 800 square miles surrounding the farm where the outbreak occurred to try to contain the virus.

 The restriction zone, in which poultry must be kept isolated from wild birds and movements must be licensed, covers 806 square miles of east Suffolk and south-east Norfolk.

The zone, introduced after consultation with ornithologists, is in addition to the 3km (1.86-mile) protection zone and the 10km (6.2-mile) surveillance zones already in place.

 They will remain in place until further notice, and for at least 21 days.