One of Huddersfield’s biggest companies is testing its emergency siren system in a couple of weeks.

Syngenta on Leeds Road is testing the sirens on Tuesday, October 15 and is writing to residents to warn them of the annual test.

The company makes crop protection products at its Huddersfield works and last year received new guidance from the Health and Safety Executive which meant it had to write to more residents than previously.

Many households received their first letter earlier this year in July. The company now writes to 8,700 households and 300 businesses with safety advice and the area covered stretches from Deighton to Dalton and from Woodhouse Hill to Kirkheaton.

Letters will land on doorsteps after Monday telling nearby residents that Syngenta has been testing its sirens every year since 1985 and that the company has, this year, installed a new £½m siren system to meet the requirements of the new guidance it received from the Health and Safety Executive.

In the letter to residents, the company sets out its Community Safety Plan, giving people the information they need if the sirens were ever sounded in an emergency.

The company is also asking residents to complete a short survey to find out what people in the area think about their community and what they see as priorities with questions around jobs, apprenticeships and social trends.

Syngenta community relations manager Carl Sykes, pictured, said: “For us, the siren test is business as usual. We test our sirens on low volume regularly and we have tested our sirens on full volume every year for the last 28 years to ensure our systems are robust.

“This year we are also inviting local residents to participate in a community survey because it will give us really useful information about what people in the area value most in their community, as well as telling us how people prefer to be informed about our business. We can use this collective information to work with local ward councillors and other local groups to ensure effort is put in the right areas.”

Syngenta makes products which help farmers all over the world protect crops from pests, weeds and disease. The Huddersfield manufacturing centre began operations almost 100 years ago.

Eighty per cent of staff live in the Kirklees area with 65% living in a HD postcode.