THE bid to break up a toxic fleet of US navy "ghost ships" in the North-East was in disarray last night following a second High Court victory by protestors.

A senior judge ruled that planning permission relied upon by Able UK did not actually cover ships and was legally flawed.

Mr Justice Sullivan expressed "grave concern" that four of the ships had already been brought all the way across the Atlantic and said he had not been shown either planning permission, a waste management licence or an environmental assessment for the proposed work.

He also called for an urgent investigation into the "decision-making processes" which had led to him not being shown the documents.

Hartlepool residents Neil Gregan, 25, Stephen Hall, 43, and Ben Marley, 18, had sought a judicial review arguing that the US should be dealing with its own waste "not towing (the ships) across the Atlantic to Hartlepool and then exposing local people and highly sensitive wildlife sites in the UK to environmental risks and potential pollution".

Mr Justice Sullivan said the planning permission covered "the dismantling and refurbishing of redundant marine structures and equipment", such as those from the North Sea oil industry.

Both Able UK and Hartlepool Borough Council had argued that, as a matter of "ordinary English" the words "marine structures" applied to all man-made objects made for use at sea, including ships.

But rejecting the submission, the judge said: "In ordinary language, a ship is no more a marine structure than a car is a highway structure, a narrow boat is a canal structure or a steam locomotive is a railway structure."

The judgement was the second blow to Able UK in a week after the same judge ruled that the waste licence modification issued by the Environment Agency allowing ships to be broken up at the company's base at Graythorp "cannot stand".

Last night, Peter Stephenson, the company's managing director, claimed the decision would result in job losses and once it had studied the full judgement, expected on Thursday, the intention would be to seek leave to appeal.

He said: "We have been handling ships here for over 50 years and now a judge is saying you can't do ships. It is quite ludicrous to say that a ship is not a marine structure."

He said legal delays had cost the company dearly and also revealed that a £165m contract for a major offshore construction project which was in the pipeline could be lost.

Phil Shiner, the solicitor representing the three residents, said Able UK would now have to apply for planning permission "in the proper way".

He added: "It is time for Able to give up their perilous struggle and for the ships to be returned to the US as soon as weather conditions permit."

The residents' barrister, David Wolfe, successfully argued that Hartlepool Borough Council made a legally flawed decision when it held that a 2002 planning permission, which extended original permission from 1997 for dismantling marine structures, sanctioned Able's plans to scrap 13 of the redundant ships.

A spokesman for the council said it welcomed the clarification given by the High Court as to the scope of the existing planning permission.

The four ships now docked at Graythorp are subject to an injunction preventing dismantling work, while the other nine are subject to a US court order which prevents them leaving their moorings in the James River, Virginia, until next April.

* For more information, log on to The Northern Echo at www.ghostships.co.uk