CASTLE Cement has pledged to consult the public following its application to the Environment Agency for permission to burn scrap tyres at its Ribblesdale works.

The company is hoping to be given the green light to use scrap tyres as an alternative fuel to the controversial chemical waste Cemfuel for a trial period.

But the Agency's "Tyres Protocol" document stresses that "rigorous testing and close consultation with local communities" must be carried out first.

Castle Cement will soon send out a community newsletter outlining its plans, and there will be a display at a local hall, possibly Ribble Valley Borough Council in Church Walk, within the next few weeks.

The Environment Agency's Steve Broughton said: "Castle Cement will carry out a period of public consultation to gauge local reaction. We will then carry out our own research within the local community." The Environment Agency's "Tyres Protocol" states: "It has been shown that burning tyres in cement kilns has a net environmental benefit when compared to conventional fuels. The emissions of nitrogen oxides have been shown to be lower when burning tyres."

Castle Cement's proposals -- first announced five years ago -- involve the use of chipped tyres to provide up to 25 per cent of the energy requirements for Ribblesdale's dry-process kiln 7.

And with the company's works at Ketton in Rutland already achieving a 20 per cent reduction in releases of oxides and nitrogen when burning tyres, the move brings with it the prospect of a further improvement in environmental performance for Ribblesdale.

Resident Lynda England is a member of the Bellman Quarry Action Group, made up of local residents, councillors and Castle Cement employees to discuss issues concerning the company and the local environment. She said: "I am waiting to see the company's planning application, but the information I have had so far is that we would be better off burning tyres than Cemfuel. But tyre burning itself is a bit of an unknown quantity."

She added: "I would like to be able to say that because of their chemical structure tyres would be preferable to chemical waste, but they have metal with them and I would be interested to know whether this would be used in the cement process."

And a spokesperson for local Friends of the Earth campaigners also expressed concern at plume grounding from the site.

He said: "Current emissions from the site means 'plume-grounding' is inevitable, causing dust clouds to drift along the valley floor. We would be interested to see what the benefits would be with burning of tyres."

More than 40 million tyres are scrapped in the UK each year and, with only 20 per cent suitable for re-treading, disposal is a major headache for the government following an EC decision to ban the practice of burying them in landfill sites from 2003.

But, says the company, the exceptionally high temperatures at which they operate mean the cement kilns offer a valuable recovery route, with rubber and cotton would be completely consumed without any black smoke or smells normally associated with burning tyres on a bonfire.