EFFORTS to stop condemned US warships being dismantled in the North have intensified as campaigners threatened legal action against the Environment Agency.

The agency has until Monday to decide whether to modify Able UK's waste management licence, which would allow them to recycle the ships, which weigh up to 75,000 tonnes.

But Friends of the Earth has pledged to take legal proceedings against the agency if it does so without carrying out an assessment first.

Friends of the Earth solicitor Phil Michaels said: "If the company do not get this licence, they cannot do the job. It is absolutely key and more important than the planning permission."

The Environment Agency has said it will only modify the licence if it is certain the decision will withstand a judicial review.

Yesterday, it was revealed in a report commissioned by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) that two of the ships needed essential work before they could be considered seaworthy because parts of them were badly corroded.

MCA spokesman Mark Clark said the agency was still waiting to hear views from its French, Irish and Belgium counterparts about the ships' passage through the English Channel.

The group is also waiting for key documents about the journey before it gives the £11m plan the go-ahead.

Hartlepool Borough Council is considering whether Able UK has permission to recycle the ships at its Graythorp dock.

The company withdrew its application for a dry dock hours before the council was due to decide whether an environmental impact assessment was necessary.

But Able UK's managing director, Peter Stephenson, said the first two ships were due to leave the James River, in Virginia, US, next week.

He criticised the environmental protestors and questioned their logic in trying to stop the ships being dismantled on Teesside.

He said: "Would it be better for the environment if they are left in the James River, or taken to a Third-World country to be dismantled under unsafe conditions?"

"I cannot understand why they would not want this work done in the safest facility in Europe by people who have the right experience."

Mr Stephenson said the preparations for the vessels recommended by a marine surveyor had been carried out by the Maritime Administration (Marad) in the US, and they were ready to be towed across the Atlantic Ocean.

Marad was unable to confirm whether the ships were ready for the journey, while the MCA said further inspections were necessary.

The US Coastguard has the final say on whether the vessels can leave the US, and it has not yet been approached to make a final inspection.