CEMENT firm bosses today hailed an exhibition detailing plans to burn animal waste a success, after the fuel was given a tentative welcome.

Around 30 residents and environmentalists attended the event, outlining proposals to use waste meat and bones at Castle Cement's Ribblesdale works in Clitheroe.

The company, which is at the centre of a long-running row with residents over its use of the toxic waste fuel, Cemfuel, has held detailed discussions with Government pollution watchdog the Environment Agency over its intention to burn up to 1,000 tonnes of the fuel a week within a year.

Agricultural Waste Derived Fuel (AWDF), will contain no BSE-infected material and is already being used safely at cement firms in Europe, company bosses have claimed.

AWDF is produced by sterilising and grinding abattoir waste, a material otherwise disposed of in landfill sites. It is fibrous in appearance and feels like damp sand.

At the event, in Clitheroe Parish Church Hall, Ian Lambert, 61, of Butts Grove, Clitheroe, said: "If the Environment Agency allows the burning of this fuel to go ahead, then I trust that it is safe. We are burying too much of this waste in landfill and it's about time we found other ways of disposing of it."

Stephen Pietrzak, of Moorland Crescent, Clitheroe, added: "Animal waste is better being burned than buried. It's a great idea and I am satisfied the company knows what it's doing."

Lynda England, of Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth, said: "I think it's a positive move. I still have a problem with increased numbers of vehicles on the road from the transportation of this fuel, but that's the only negative I can see."

Gareth Price, general manager at Castle Cement's Ribblesdale works, said: "It was a successful exhibition. We received no really negative feedback in relation to this issue."

The Environment Agency has said Castle Cement will not be allowed to use the fuel until a rigorous programme of trials has been drawn up, including checks on releases to air, land and water.