MORE than 100 people have submitted their views on fresh plans to set up a ship-dismantling and repair dock in the North-East.

When the deadline closed on Tuesday, Hartlepool Borough Council had received more than 100 letters about Able UK's new planning application for the Greythorp site, close to Seaton Carew.

However, a council spokesman said he was unable to say whether the comments were for or against the controversial plans, and said no date for a decision had yet been set.

"We have had over 100 responses from members of the public and what we are doing now is considering those responses and any comments from consultants ahead of the matter going to planning committee in due course," he said.

Able UK decided to resubmit its plans for a Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling Centre (Terrc) after the council refused it permission last year on environmental grounds.

Able decided to appeal the decision, leading to the issue being set down for a public inquiry in October.

However, in June, the council announced that it would no longer contest the appeal for fear it would lose and cost the taxpayers millions of pounds.

The council said new Government guidelines, which stated that Britain needed a ship dismantling site, led it to believe that it was no longer in a position to contest it.

So, in the hope that it could circumvent the process, Able went back to the beginning and resubmitted its plans in a bid to secure massive construction projects and hundreds of jobs for the region.

Earlier this month, Able chairman Peter Stephenson said: "We have been actively negotiating with a number of clients to bring work to the centre.

"However, all of them are time-critical, which makes it vital that we achieve a positive outcome on our planning applications."