Calls for cement plant shutdown

The Environment Agency is investigating the cause of the blaze

Two councillors have called for a cement works to be temporarily closed after a second fire in two months.

The Enviroment Agency said it was "not happy with certain things" while councillors Dennis Hutchinson and Colin Bithell want Castle Cement shut down until investigations are completed.

The plant in Flintshire was evacuated on Tuesday, but nobody was injured.

The company apologised, saying the chimney fire was an "isolated" incident and it was liaising with the agency.

A Castle Cement spokesman said a feed belt used in the cement-making process had caught fire, but the blaze did not involve any toxic substances.

It was very frightening to see a huge plume of thick black smoke heading towards the village Councillor Colin Bithell

He said operations were back to normal on Wednesday, adding: "It's extremely unfortunate and we would like to apologise for what happened."

He said there were "some issues" at the factory, but the company was doing everything possible to "iron them out."

He added: "The Environment Agency is in constant touch with us and we have a local liaison committee, with representatives from the local community, which meets every month so that we can be completely open and honest about what's going on here."

But the two councillors argued that the plant should be closed until the fears of neighbouring communities had been allayed.

The main chimney at Castle Cement on Tuesday lunchtime

Mr Hutchinson, who represents Buckley, said: "They [Castle Cement] keep giving us assurances that it's safe, but after the smoke that we saw coming out of the place yesterday, people are naturally worried about what kind of nasties it contained.

"It should be closed down until investigations have been completed to establish what went wrong."

Mr Bithell, who represents nearby Penyffordd, said: "It's just not good enough.

"It was very frightening to see a huge plume of thick black smoke heading towards the village. People were closing doors and windows.

"This sort of thing shouldn't be happening and, quite frankly, we've lost confidence in Castle Cement and the Environment Agency."

Both councillors will raise their concerns with colleagues on Flintshire Council.

Local MP Mark Tami and AM Carl Sergeant are seeking a meeting with Castle Cement executives later this month.

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency said: "We are not happy with certain things on the site and have been carrying out a thorough investigation.

"Both the recent fires will be included in this investigation along with justified complaints from the local community about dust emissions and noise."

It said if the site did not meet strict requirements, it would "take the necessary action to enforce the high standards we expect".