JUDGES will decide today whether the controversial Cemfuel is a hazardous waste or a fuel, and whether it should be more rigorously monitored.

Castle Cement, which claims the waste solvents and oils are a fuel, and the Environment Agency, which has hotly contested the test case, will today hear the verdict in the High Court, London.

The Environment Agency last year informed Castle Cement that the liquid would be classed as "hazardous waste" and would be subject to an extra-vigilant monitoring regime.

Castle Cement, which burns the fuel in the Clitheroe plant, claims the new regime is unnecessary and will cost them large sums of money.

Last month, Philip Havers QC, for Cemfuel, told the court that Cemfuel couldn't be regarded as waste as it was being usefully employed and the company had no intention of discarding it.

But John Howell QC, for the Environment Agency, said: "Waste materials do not cease to be waste merely because, after treatment, they can be used as fuel."

Mr Justice Stanley Burton's decision will be important to all industries that use Cemfuel and to worried Ribble Valley residents who fear their health is at risk.