CONTROVERSIAL plans for an animal incinerator have been given planning permission by a national park authority - for the second time.

The first application by Edward Noddings to build the incinerator at the Stable House Industrial Estate at Charlton's, near Guisborough, was approved by the North Yorkshire Moors National Park Authority.

But local residents applied for an injunction to prevent the incinerator from being built amid health fears and the impact it could have on the environment.

At a High Court hearing, the judge did not impose an injunction, but obtained a legal undertaking that no carcasses would be burnt in the immediate future and ordered a two-day hearing into the dispute.

But before the hearing, the National Park Authority conceded that the original permission could not go ahead because the scheme was defective in law and councillors had not had the implications of an EU waste directive linked to incineration explained to them by officers.

Mr Noddings resubmitted an application and last Thursday the authority's planning committee again gave planning permission to allow the incinerator to be built on the site where a slaughterhouse and meat recovery business has operated for many years.

Chief planning officer Val Dilcock said that after an investigation, it was not felt the incinerator would harm the character of the area or the residents' health. But protestor John Tombs said he would continue to fight.

Before the burner can operate it needs a licence from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. A spokesman said it is the statutory duty of the council - not a decision making process - to issue the permit by September 23 as long as the applicant met procedures listed under pollution regulations.

Mr Noddings was unavailable for comment, but he has previously stressed that the dispute is between Mr Tombs and the park authority.