YOUR readers might come to the wrong conclusion if I were to allow Mrs Jennifer Mortimer's claims (Letters, January 14) to go unchallenged.

Mrs Mortimer wrongly accuses Castle Cement of publishing 'misleading propaganda.'

The company had no right, she claims, to say that it had withdrawn Cemfuel from kiln seven at its Clitheroe plant in 1994 as a goodwill gesture. It was Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution (HMIP) that stopped Castle from burning Cemfuel, she says.

Those statements are completely untrue.

Castle Cement did voluntarily withdraw Cemfuel from kiln seven in 1994 - a fact that was acknowledged at the time by HMIP. A month after Castle's decision, HMIP put out a notice confirming the new conditions.

And on September 12, 1994, HMIP issued a Press release saying: "The company has voluntarily stopped burning Cemfuel and the variation notice contains amendments to reflect this position."

It is Mrs Mortimer, not Castle Cement, who is guilty of issuing erroneous statements.

IAN SUTHERAN, General Manager, Ribblesdale Works, Castle Cement, Clitheroe.

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