A COMMUNITY'S fight to block plans for a power station may leave a council with a £10,000-plus bill after it rejected legal advice to back down.

At a meeting of Easington District Council yesterday, councillors turned down revised plans for an electricity converter station on the former Hawthorn Colliery and Cokeworks site, between South Hetton and Murton, in east Durham.

The decision followed the council's earlier rejection of the original plans by National Grid International (NGI), which wants to establish a power link between Norway and the UK.

The company lodged an appeal against the original refusal - an appeal which will now be heard at a four-day planning inquiry at Murton's Glebe Centre starting on Tuesday, in light of yesterday's refusal.

The council's latest decision, which produced a unanimous vote by councillors, came despite an independent expert's warnings that it would not win the appeal.

Council solicitor Victor Adams agreed it could end up having to pay for it.

He said: "There are issues of national and international importance which I think would weigh heavily with the inspector who is dealing with the inquiry.

"The case on the side of the National Grid's arguments is overwhelming.

"The inspector could conclude that the council's stance was unreasonable, and it is very likely that the National Grid would get well in excess of £10,000 if an award of costs was confirmed."

Under the NGI's proposals, the converter station would stand on a 400m by 100m fenced off area, reaching a maximum height of 25m, with access from the B1285 in Murton.

Reclamation and landscaping work, including the development of community woodland, would help screen the development from surrounding villages, and two underground cables would run from the site to Ryhope, in Sunderland.

But local people oppose the scheme, claiming it would damage their quality of life without benefiting the area at all.

Brian Fenton, of Murton, complained that noise levels would be intolerable, while Keith Wren, also of Murton, said the development would discourage investment.

Council leader Alan Napier said: "As an individual and as leader of the council, I still have massive concerns.

"I am recommending refusal."