A PRESTON paper firm have said they will keep on trading with a Far Eastern company claimed by Friends of the Earth to be destroying a rare rainforest.

Rosefox Paper Ltd, based in Walton Summit, who were named in an FoE report, released last week, say they have received assurances that their supplier is not doing anything wrong in Indonesia.

The report, nicknamed 'April Fools', said at least nine firms in this country stock paper made by a firm logging trees in the exotic Tesso Nilo area of Sumatra, Indonesia.

The conservation pressure group claim that Asian Pacific Resource Holdings Ltd (APRIL), based in Singapore, and its logging subsidiary, Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), have been clearing Tesso Nilo of trees and helping to destroy one of the world's rarest habitats.

The main brand of paper produced by APRIL is known as PaperOne, and the report names the British firms which stock it including Rosefox.

Ed Matthews, of Friends of the Earth,to is asking Rosefox to "help in the fight to save the Indonesian rainforest" and stop stocking PaperOne.

But a spokesman for Rosefox said: "Before we started dealing with APRIL we asked them to give us an assurance that they were dealing with things like logging properly.

"We questioned that assurance once we had seen the statement from Friends of the Earth.

"But the way APRIL's response reads, they haven't done anything wrong.

"Until that is proved otherwise we are happy to go along with it. If it is proved otherwise we will take appropriate action."

Mr Matthews said: "We have got a very clear message for the companies that use the paper. We want them to stop buying it immediately.

"You can play an important part in helping to save one of the most important rainforests in the world."

Friends of the Earth also claim the area affected has recently been the subject of an investigation by nature group WWF, which found it to contain rare wildlife, including Sumatran tigers, and elephants.

Mr Matthews said: "There are two big companies in Indonesia, one of which is APRIL.

"The WWF study has found that Tesso Nilo is one of the most bio-diverse rainforests in the world. It is very precious, an ecological jewel."

In a statement APRIL management said: "Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper's forest plantation development activities in the Teso Nilo area are in accordance with the approved government licence issued to the company."