But shelters manned by members of the village's old people's association were still standing, and members - mostly women - were working in shifts to hold 24-hour watches at the sites.

The shelters, large tents made of tree trunks and straw matting, sit next to roadblocks put up by villagers on March 24 in an attempt to stop production at 13 chemical plants they say are polluting the environment, killing crops and causing sickness, stillbirths and deformities.

Huaxi's old people's association has led the campaign against the plants, with members saying they want to protect younger people from the police.

Up to 30,000 villagers from Huaxi, two hours' drive south of Hangzhou , the capital of Zhejiang province , rioted against police and officials on Monday last week, chasing them out of town. But an initially euphoric atmosphere has now been replaced by fear - and determination to see the conflict out.

'People are still not really working, but the atmosphere is quite tense,' said one villager.

A government spokesman in nearby Dongyang city said a team of inspectors from Zhejiang's environmental protection department would travel to Huaxi this week to look at conditions at the plants.

The visit would be the first to the area by provincial-level environment officials, said Lou Tianmo , a spokesman at the Dongyang information office.

Dongyang Mayor Tan Yong held meetings with residents from eight villages on Monday, Mr Lou said.

'The situation has calmed down. We told them that the factories would not reopen until they had reached acceptable environmental standards. We signed an agreement yesterday on that. The villagers will just have to wait,' he said. Mr Lou said the dozens of destroyed vehicles had been cleared away.

But Huaxi's residents remain wary. One villager said the elderly people manning the shelters were staying because they did not trust the government.

Villagers say one resident, Wang Zhongfa , 40, a prominent campaigner against the plants, was arrested by Dongyang police on April 8 and charged with inciting rebellion against the government. Up to yesterday, he had not returned home.

'He didn't commit any crime, he was just protecting the environment,' said another villager.

Mr Lou denied knowledge of the arrest and referred all questions to his superior, Chen Qixian , who could not be reached for comment.