NUCLEAR emergency planners say they will not be following the example of Sizewell and issuing anti-radiation pills to people living close to Heysham's nuclear power plants.

Anti-radiation pills are being handed out door-to-door within 2.5 km of Sizewell in Suffolk but local emergency planning bosses say they are unconvinced that the pre-distribution of 'potassium iodate' pills is a good idea.

Lancaster Green Party has called for everyone in the area to have the pills as a 'precaution' and says they should be available in local shops and chemists.

The pills protect people from thyroid cancer, one of the main problems associated with radioactive fallout, and health experts say it is important that the pills are taken as quickly as possible following an emergency incident.

The distribution of the pills has become an issue once again due to recent heightened international tensions and the possible threat of a terrorist attack.

"We should be given the pills immediately as a precautionary measure," said Prof John Whitelegg, of Lancaster Green Party.

"They've been given to every resident in Ireland because of concerns about Sellafield, they've been given to people living near Sellafield and in Barrow because of the nuclear submarines.

Now they're giving them to residents close to Sizewell B.

"Given that they are deemed necessary as a precaution in all these areas then everyone in the district should be given the potassium iodate pills immediately.

If there was any release from Heysham then people as far away as Newcastle will need them! They should be available in local shops, chemists and post offices in the interests of public health and safety."

David Howarth, nuclear emergency planning officer for Lancashire, explained: "We're monitoring the situation but at the moment we do not feel it's necessary to pre-distribute these pills in Heysham.

"Studies have shown that people tend to lose them or they get damp and go off.

It can cause undue concern about the possibility of an incident, which is very, very remote.

"It's a situation that is constantly being looked at and could change but that's not the case at the moment."