ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners have condemned the Government for failing to monitor and control the burning of toxic waste at cement plants.

They say that despite promises made before the General Election, Labour is allowing more waste to be burned by cement companies and that health authorities are not properly monitoring the effect on people living near cement works, including Castle Cement at Clitheroe.

A number of cement firms are seeking to increase the amount of waste they can use as "secondary liquid fuel".

The National Alliance for Cleaner Kilns, a group set up to monitor waste burning, has accused Prime Minister Tony Blair of taking risks with people's health by not getting to grips with the issue.

"Given what Labour said about this issue when they were in opposition, we expected things to change after the election. But they are actually getting worse," said a spokesman for the group.

"The Environment Agency is supposed to monitor what's going on. Health authorities are supposed to monitor the effects on local people. But they are both failing badly." He added: "There have been no health surveys carried out among adults and children living near cement works burning this stuff. There is little or no monitoring."

Cement companies and officials from the Environment Agency, which is responsible for monitoring the burning and granting licences, have rejected the criticisms.

The cement industry says burning the waste as fuel has environmental benefits because it means that waste chemicals do not have to be buried in the ground, where they can cause more problems.

Apart from Clitheroe, waste is burned at sites across Britain, including: Barrington, Cambridgeshire - where Rugby Cement has a plant a few hundred yards away from a primary school; Padeswood, Clywd; Ketton, Leicestershire; Mason, Tyne & Wear; Southam, Warwickshire; and Whitwell, Derbyshire.

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