UNDER AN otherwise cloudless sky, the view over the Ribble Valley this morning was marked by a grey-white cloud clinging low to the landscape for several miles. It was that of smoke from the Castle Cement works chimney at Clitheroe.

It stood as a silent, but forceful testimony to the concern of residents over the burning of chemical waste-based Cemfuel at the plant - and to the unresolved controversy over whether it is a health hazard.

The disclosure, then, that Ribble Valley Council has won a large government grant as a "guinea pig" local authority for new air pollution monitoring procedures under the recent Environment Act is welcome for two reasons.

First, as a hot-bed of concern over air pollution and possible health hazards, Clitheroe is an ideal site for such a test to take place.

Secondly, as a result of the test, the truth of the Cemfuel controversy may be nailed one way or the other at last - as it needs to be, both for the residents' peace of mind and for the sake of public health.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.