THE boss of a recycling company at the centre of an environmental row last night welcomed a campaign to dismantle ships in the UK instead of sending them to countries in the developing world.

Able UK managing director Peter Stephenson described the move as "a genuine example of a sensible green approach to what is a major worldwide environmental issue".

Mr Stephenson was speaking after Greenpeace joined forces with the GMB union and Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson to put pressure on the Government not to send ships to developing countries to be broken up.

Their campaign aims to develop purpose-built ship dismantling facilities in Britain, and seek a public commitment that British Government-owned vessels are recycled within the European Union.

It was prompted by the "dangerous and polluting" conditions in which the work is carried out on beaches in south Asia by children and low-paid workers with few safety conditions.

Mr Mandelson got involved in the issue after the controversy surrounding the so-called Ghost Ships, which were brought across the Atlantic from the James River in Virginia.

Opponents said the former US navy vessels contained asbestos, diesel and toxic chemicals and would pose an environmental threat to people living near the Able yard on the outskirts of Hartlepool.

Four ships have already berthed at the yard but work cannot be carried out until a dispute over a waste management licence and planning consents is resolved.

A court case in the US next month will determine the fate of the other nine.

Mr Stephenson accused environmental groups and local campaigners of "blatant scaremongering" when details of Able's £11m deal to recycle 13 of the obsolete ships were revealed last summer.

Last night he said: "I believe this launch demonstrates that there is growing realisation that we need a genuine green approach to the issue of ship recycling rather than the antics, led by Friends of the Earth, which have generated so much disinformation and unnecessary alarm."