A NORTH-EAST town should receive cheap energy if a nuclear power station is built in the town, campaigners say.

Ministers have included Hartlepool on an official list of possible locations for new reactors.

Nine of the sites have previously been home to nuclear reactors – including the North-East nominee.

The sites have been nominated by companies interested in building the stations.

Hartlepool has been proposed by EDF Energy, which has put forward land next to its existing power station.

Although EDF says it would first build power stations at other sites in the UK, Hartlepool could be built as part of a second wave.

The public are now being asked for their views during a month-long consultation period.

Sarah Green, regional director for the Confederation of British Industry North- East, welcomed Hartlepool’s inclusion on the list.

However, she added: “We should not forget our energy security is under increased threat and the Government cannot afford any delay in getting the nuclear programme in train.

“Even now it will probably be 2017 before any nuclear stations come online. Any further delay could be disastrous.”

Geoff Lilley, independent Hartlepool councillor and national member of Friends of the Earth, said people living in the town should benefit from lower energy bills if the town became the site of a new nuclear plant.

He said: “I’m being pragmatic.

“I don’t want one, but I am thinking if it is going to happen, let’s get what we can for the people of this community.

“I would like to see residents around it actually benefit from having a power station on their doorstep.”

Nic Best, North-East Green Party spokesman, said that the country should be moving away from nuclear energy towards a low-carbon, low-energy economy.

The proposals form part of a plan to build a new generation of nuclear power stations to help close what has been described as a generation gap, which is expected as existing nuclear and coal-fired stations shut down.

The full list of potential locations is: Dungeness, in Kent; Sizewell, in Suffolk; Hartlepool; Heysham, in Lancashire; Sellafield, Braystones and Kirksanton, in Cumbria; Wylfa Peninsula, on Anglesey; Oldbury, in Gloucestershire; Hinkley Point, in Somerset; and Bradwell, in Essex.