Windfall for nuclear waste site

The money will be spent on the wellbeing of the people of Copeland

Residents of an area in Cumbria have received £5m for putting up with a low-level nuclear waste disposal site on their doorstep.

The parish of Drigg and Carleton will receive a payment from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority every year as long as the waste site is in operation.

It made the initial payment to the Copeland Community Fund and will then pay in £1.5m annually.

The cash will be spent on community projects.

Bob Churchill, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority's head of socio-economics said: "The establishment of this fund recognises the important national contribution communities in Copeland make in hosting the national low-level waste repository.

"As the fund develops it will be able to make a valuable long-term contribution to the social, environmental and economic wellbeing of the area."