Power plant can dump ash in lakes

Campaigners tried to get Radley Lakes village green status

Campaigners trying to stop a power station in Oxfordshire pumping ash into nearby lakes have failed to win protected status for the waters.

RWE Npower plans to fill Radley Lakes with waste from Didcot Power Station.

The county council has refused to give village green status to the 12-hectare (30-acre) site, located between Radley and Abingdon.

The Save Radley Lakes campaign group said it would now pursue a judicial review.

Councillors voted 10 to four in favour of refusing the protected status.

'Responsible'

RWE Npower was given planning permission in January 2007 to pump ash into the lakes but the village green application halted the operation and a public inquiry was held in April and June.

If the area had been granted village green status, the power company would have been prevented from dumping ash.

RWE Npower has said it would dispose of the ash "in a responsible way".

It said it needed to use the lake for its waste in order to meet the demand for electricity, and would return the site for nature conservation when the lake is full.