Amber Online

Angry residents are calling for a Parliamentary ombudsman's inquiry into pollution from a cokeworks.

People living close to Monkton cokeworks claim government officials paid to control pollution at Monkton cokeworks in Hebburn have not been doing their job. National Smokeless Fuels said in planning applications in the late 1970s that it wanted to fit dust arresters to coke ovens on the Monkton site. But when 33 new ovens started operating in 1981 - doubling the size of the works - the arresters were not installed. Now eight years later talks are still going on between NSF and the government's Alkali and Clean Air Inspectorate at Darlington about an acceptable design for the arresters. Even when the design has been agreed it could be years before action is taken to cut steam and dust pollution. "They've been talking about it and looking at it since 1981 but no-one does anything to help," said Mrs. Jennie Shearan, leader of Hebburn Residents' Action Group. "Life here is really bad. The last two weeks since Christmas it's been disgusting. We have had more black smoke than we have ever had. "We are sick of people doing nothing. It took them 20 years to discover how dangerous asbestos is. My great fear is that the effects of this filth will show in the future." The move is being supported by South Tyneside Council. But Mrs. Shearan says the council, along with local MPs and other authorities, have been too reluctant to force the cokeworks to clean up.