IT is likely a council will recommend that a power plant should be allowed to burn cow fat.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has been asked to give its views on whether the power station at Wilton, Redcar, Teesside, should be allowed to burn the fat by the Environment Agency (EA), which will make the final decision on the scheme.

The council's principal environmental protection officer, Robert Cowell, said: "I do not see any issues with it, because the EA will put whatever needs to be done in place.

"But we will be taking the concerns of the public and of environmental groups into consideration.

"The energy generated from the fat will be used for generating electricity and steam for the Wilton complex. It is not simply incineration to get rid of carcasses. The company are buying the tallow, which produces less toxins than oil."

If the EA agrees to the fat from cattle being burnt, there will be a trial period of five weeks, in two to four month's time, when 10,000 tonnes of tallow will be burnt and emissions monitored continuously from the two chimney stacks, which are 90 and 137 metres-high.

It would be burnt at the Wilton Power Station, now run by Singapore-owned Sembcorp.

However, Greenpeace campaigner Mark Strutt said: "A study has shown that BSE prions can survive the burning process, so there must be questions here about the risk to public health."

Friends of the Earth on Teesside is also concerned about the increase in lorries to the plant.