HEALTH chiefs have raised no objections to Lafarge in Westbury trialling the burning of Recycled Liquid Fuel (RLF).

Despite pleas from residents from Westbury and Devizes at a meeting of West Wiltshire Primary Care Trust last Thursday, the trust board concluded there would not be any adverse health effects from the trial.

The Environment Agency will make the final decision on whether the six month trial will go ahead.

People have expressed concerns in the past about emissions from Lafarge cement works when it burns tyres.

RLF is found in windscreen wash, paint and nail varnish remover and other items and Lafarge says it has been used successfully for more than 20 years by cement manufacturers around the world and has improved environmental performance.

Ted Hatala, of The Fairway, Devizes, said: "I have concerns about Lafarge and the Environment Agency. It's my children and other people's children that I am worried about."

David Levy of Westbury said: "There are thousands of pollutants coming from the Lafarge plant every day."

Dr Pamela Akerman, acting director of public health at the trust, said in a report: "We are reassured by the fact that trials at other cement works burning this and similar fuels have led to only modest changes in emissions.

"We are firmly of the view that a carefully controlled trial is not a matter of serious concern and that adverse effects on the health of local residents are not to be expected."

Dr Mark Evans of the Wiltshire Health Protection Unit told the meeting: "It will be a six month trial and it can be stopped at any time if there is concern about the emissions. None of us, Lafarge included, want to see any dangerous emissions put into the atmosphere.

"There will be very close monitoring and Lafarge is suggesting to the Environment Agency 16 sites for monitoring the emissions."

Dr Evans added: "I live and work around Devizes and I would certainly not be happy with this trial if I wasn't sure that all the evidence had been looked at in great detail."

Dr Akerman said the best means of assessing the health implications of emissions is from trial data.