CEMENT firm bosses have applied for permission to re-start the burning of controversial Cemfuel at their Ribble Valley plant -- claiming it will help secure local jobs.

And Castle Cement has also confirmed it is considering burning worn-out tyres at its Ribblesdale works in a bid to improve its environmental performance.

The firm claims its own eight-month trials of Cemfuel, halted hours before new European anti-pollution rules came into force at the end of June, have shown that it is environmentally beneficial.

It said that the dry kiln, kiln seven, operated well within the Government limits when burning coal and when Cemfuel, made from re-cycled chemical waste, was introduced as a partial substitute for coal, environmental performances was improved.

Castle Cement has now applied to the Environment Agency for permission to use Cemfuel in kiln seven permanently as an up to 40per cent substitute for coal. The company withdrew Cemfuel from the kiln in 1994 while it addressed local concerns about dispersion of plume from the chimney. But a £5million gas scrubber, installed in 1998, reduced emissions of sulphur dioxide and dust.

Cemfuel, a cheaper alternative to coal and other fuels, was also taken out of the firm's wet kilns, kilns five and six, at the end of June, and the company said it would not be re-introduced until new monitoring equipment had been installed. Ribblesdale's general manager Ian Sutheran said: "We have always had confidence in Cemfuel's environmental benefits and these new trials once again confirm its advantages.

"With our other two kilns due to close in the next three to four years, the future of this works, the jobs it provides and the vital role it plays in the local economy rests on kiln seven. I hope that, given the excellent results from these tests, we can moved forward very positively," he said. The findings of the trials can be viewed by the public at Ribble Valley Borough Council in Clitheroe and Castle Cement will display its application, along with the trial results, to the public at St Mary's Parish Church Hall on September 6.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said that the application would take four months to consider because the agency needs to see evidence from the firm, which would have to be evaluated thoroughly by an independent assessor. A public consultation will make up part of that process.

"We cannot discuss the pros and cons of Cemfuel, but they if they are claiming it is environmentally beneficial, they need to provide evidence," he said.

Mr Sutheran also said that the firm is considering burning worn-out tyres in kiln seven, which, he says, will improve environmental performance.

"Tyres make an excellent fuel and, in the controlled conditions of a cement kiln, burn without any of the black smoke you expect to see when they are burned in the open air. Trials at our Ketton works have shown a 20per cent reduction in releases of oxides of nitrogen when burning tyres as a part substitute for coal." The agency spokesman added: "Tyres are a recognised substitute to coal, but at this present time we have not received such an application from Castle Cement."

David Mortimer, from Blackburn, Hyndburn and Ribble Valley Friends of the Earth, said: "We haven't really had a chance to look at all of the information, but we will fight the application to burn Cemfuel permanently. Our major point is that clear health problems are developing in this area and no one is interested in carrying out health or environmental studies.

"I presume they will claim that their gas scrubber will make everything all right. But it doesn't take out the heavy metals and doesn't remove dioxins, which can cause cancer."

He added that the group's major fear was that levels of dioxin emissions from the kiln would be eight times higher than an incinerator which, he said, face tighter emission controls and get rid of more dioxins than kilns.