GOVERNMENT plans to support carbon and capture technology need to be brought forward by at least a decade in order to avoid ‘irreversible damage’ to UK industry, a report has warned.

A paper by the Policy North think tank calls for the launch of a carbon and capture (CCS) pilot area on Teesside which it says would put post-Brexit Britain at the forefront of clean energy technology and help save industries which are threatened by rising environmental pressures.

The green technology allows the potential capture of up to 90 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels from industrial processes, electricity generation and from power plants.

The Government said in its Clean Growth Strategy last year that it wanted to have CCS deployed by the 1930s.

But the Policy North report suggests that unless it is supported sooner, industry will suffer due to more and more penalties from worldwide climate and environmental regulations, and argues it should aim for the introduction of CCS by the 2020s.

Callum Crozier of Policy North, who authored the report, said: “The longer we leave this, the longer our industry in the UK will be damaged by increasingly burdensome environmental regulations and international climate change agreements.

“As we leave the EU and set our sights on a future path as a truly Global Britain exporting goods to the world, it has never been more important to support our traditional industries.”

Policy North suggests a roll-out of the technology in Teesside would protect local industry from environmental penalties, establish the UK as a leading nation in clean energy and help clean up the air in Teesside.

The report suggests bringing the plans forward by at least a decade would put the UK ahead of the EU in a rapidly-growing industry.st decade would put the UK ahead of the EU in what is a rapidly-growing, burgeoning industry.

The report's recommendations have been backed by Simon Clarke, MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland.

He said: “We have before us an opportunity to be at the forefront of CCS technology in Europe. With the UK’s departure from the EU, it is now time, more than ever, for the UK to demonstrate international leadership.”