WYRE's anti-gas campaigners say they are 'undaunted' by the government's go-ahead for an unpopular gas storage plant in Knutsford.

Protect Wyre Group (PWG) and Thornton Action Group (TAG) will fight on despite the Office for the Deputy Prime Minister giving ScottishPower the go-ahead to store gas in eight salt caverns at Byley, Cheshire.

PWG chairman Ian Mulroy said: "We are not daunted.

"The two proposals at Byley and in Wyre are very different. The disappointment we have got is that over 11,000 people in Byley wrote individual letters of complaint and objection.

"The local councils unanimously said they did not want this development and there was a government inspector who said in his opinion the development should not go there and that this gas was not needed for the national interest."

He added: "It's always a risk that the government might interpret 'national interest' differently to us but we feel that we have such a strong case in this Wyre's instance that Canatxx will not be successful."

Canatxx wants to store up to two million tonnes of natural gas , 1200 ft under the River Wyre near Fleetwood and Thornton. Up to 20 wellheads opposite Stanah will lead to caverns under the riverbed, with brine being pumped into the sea near Rossall.

TAG's Howard Phillips said the Byley scheme differs because it involves only eight caverns, at twice the depth in salt beds with no faults. The area is less densely populated, there will be a power station on site and ScottishPower will make use of the displaced salt.

He said TAG was 'disappointed and disgusted' at the Byley decision, but added: "We are very hopeful that all these differences will mean that Canatxx will be turned down by Lancashire County Council."

The county council, rather than Wyre Borough Council, will decide the application because it involves mineral mining.

Wyre campaigners argue that gas could be stored more safely in an existing empty gas field in Morecambe Bay - owned by another energy company - rather than under the Wyre.

In Byley, protesters said the government had deemed 'Britain's energy needs' more important than the concerns of those living near the planned £70 million gas plant.

John Edwards of Byley protest group, Residents Against the Plant, said campaigners are already planning their next meeting to fight back.

"It is something well over 10,000 were opposed to so there's no doubt local people did not want this.

"Sometimes when you know something is bad you have got to stand up and fight."