PLANS for a toxic waste incinerator recently resurrected after ten years on the back-burner have again been ditched.

Protest groups on Teesside are now celebrating the news that Cory Environmental Ltd has withdrawn plans for the £35m incinerator at Seal Sands, near Billingham.

Cory's massive plant was granted planning permission in 1992, but the company later announced it had shelved the plans.

It then left opponents dismayed when it applied to Stockton Borough Council to renew its permission last December.

Environmental campaigners are celebrating once again however with the news that Cory has withdrawn its application due to a lack of interest from potential customers.

Burning 30,000 tonnes of waste each year of its 25-year life, it would have been one of only four incinerators in the UK able to deal with toxic waste - and the first in the North-East.

John Brunton, of Teesside environmental group IMPACT, said the whole of Middlesbrough and Stockton could now breath a sigh of relief.

He added: "This is absolutely excellent news and it comes as a great relief. Burning toxic waste a mile or two from the heart of Middlesbrough would have been very irresponsible.

"We are not totally surprised by this, we had heard that Cory were considering withdrawing their plans. But we didn't expect it so soon after they renewed their interest."

The former Cleveland County Council rejected the original application in 1990 on the grounds that it was a danger to public health, but this was overturned by a public inquiry two years later, despite 60,000 residents signing a petition against it.

It renewed its permission in 1997 - in line with planning rules that mean an applicant loses its permission if it does not reapply after five years - but said plans wouldn't go ahead while the government discouraged burning waste.

Achilleas Georgiou, company spokesman, explained Cory's recent about-face. He said: "We do not intend to apply for renewal of application. While there is a growth in industrial waste - and that's why we applied in December - the conditions are not right for us.

"We needed a long-term commitment from waste producers to underpin the long-term viability. In other words, we haven't got enough long-term customers."