Northamptonshire County Council has published draft proposals to increase extraction from four million to seven million tonnes of sand and gravel.

The quarry, near the villages of Cogenhoe, Ecton and Whiston, would be among the largest in Europe.

But parish councillor Roger Brown said the quarry would be noisy and ugly.

"We have to accept the fact that there is going to be noise, there is going to be dust, there are in fact three archaeological sites that are going to be destroyed by this," he said.

"(It is) a beautiful area, and it will be destroyed... it will become a mass of lakes again. This is not natural beauty."

The council says members of the public have until December to make their feelings known on the plans.

Any outstanding objections will be dealt with at a public inquiry beginning in March.