A HEALTH boss has dismissed claims that asthma and respiratory disease in the Ribble Valley is being caused by the burning of a toxic waste fuel at a Clitheroe cement works.

But clean air campaigners have accused East Lancashire director of public health Stephen Morton of using "poor science" when comparing health in the Ribble Valley with the rest of East Lancashire.

Dr Morton told a meeting of the Ribble Valley Council's overview and scrutiny committee that general health in the Clitheroe area was good and there was no evidence of increased levels of disease attributable to air pollution.

He said: "We have a lot of data on air quality, emissions and health in general, specifically heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory disease.

"The Ribble Valley has better health than the rest of East Lancashire and compares favourably with the rest of the country.

"Levels of asthma have risen in the UK by 30 per cent in both urban and rural areas.

"There could be many reasons for this, but it doesn't seem to be directly connected to air pollution.

"There are higher levels of prescribing for asthma in the Ribble Valley, but fewer hospital admissions for asthma and other respiratory disease.

"The most likely explanation for this is that there is more active management of asthma by local doctors.

"I have not undertaken a formal health impact assessment in this case, but have concentrated my comments on the potential health risks from emissions to air associated with the cement-making process."

But Lynda England, of Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth, challenged Dr Morton to compare the health of the Ribble Valley with that of Skipton.

She said: "Socio-economic factors have a huge bearing on health, so we would expect the health of the Ribble Valley to be better than the rest of East Lancashire.

"We are not reassured by his comments and would be very interested to know how our health compares with that of, say, Skipton, which is a comparable rural area."

Dr Morton said Clitheroe also differed from Skipton in that it had a manufacturing base.

But he called on Castle Cement to implement further environmental improvements at its Ribblesdale works, as further alternative fuels were introduced.

Castle Cement wants to burn chipped tyres in Clitheroe on a trial basis from September and has applied to burn paper and plastic household waste, such as nappies, within the year.

Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "It is wrong of Dr Morton to dismiss fears that Castle Cement is causing high leels of asthma and he should carry out a full study."