Hartlepool MP Peter Mandelson today launched an outspoken attack on critics of a deal to scrap a fleet of toxic ships in the North-East.

Mr Mandleson claimed opponents were "peddling falsehoods" and portraying the town as a dumping ground for toxic waste.

He also criticised Hartlepool Mayor Stuart Drummond and claimed directly elected representatives were "swallowing the propaganda" put out by environmental group Friends of the Earth.

Mr Mandleson visited the Able UK yard in Graythorp to see for himself for the first time two of the 13 US ships -- the Canisteo and the Caloosahatchee -- which have made the trip across the Atlantic.

Quizzed about The Northern Echo's revelation yesterday that US congresswoman Jo Ann Davis had described the ships as a "disaster waiting to happen", he said: "These are thoughtless words, being taken out of context, probably mis-represented and fed by an irrational fear."

When pushed on the oil content of the ships, Mr Mandelson then described Congresswoman Davis as "talking through the top of her hat".

He said: "What strikes me about this situation is that what started out as a rational, factually based assessment of a relatively straight forward contract has been derailed by the efforts of a London based organisation working with a relatively small group of local protesters who have whipped up an irrational fear not on the basis of the facts but on false claims.

"Ninety eight per cent of these ships will be recovered and recycled in precisely the way that environmentalists demand so as far as these being 'toxic death ships' the opposite is the case."

To read the full version of this story, buy The Northern Echo tomorrow (Saturday).

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