HEALTH and safety chiefs say there are no immediate risks to people living near a Newton Aycliffe chemical plant.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) last week recommended that an application for a nursery near the Great Lakes factory should be rejected because of the risk of harm from hazardous substances.

The comments left residents living near the factory confused because it appeared to differ from advice given at a public meeting last year after a bromine leak at the factory left six people needing hospital treatment.

The company was fined £10,000 for the accident, but the public meeting concluded that emissions from factories in the town did not have long-term health implications.

Catherine Dunn, who lives near the factory said: "I have lived behind Great Lakes for four years, and throughout this time my children are often ill with vomiting and headaches.

"I have often put this down to childhood bugs. However I am now beginning to wonder if this is really the case."

Alex Keddie, from the HSE's hazardous installations division, said the advice on the nursery application, which was later withdrawn, was based on the risk to children from an accidental release of chemicals.

He said: "There shouldn't be any everyday release that would cause anybody any harm from this site.

"I don't know if there is any housing within the zone we draw for the risk assessment, but obviously those people are at risk if there is an incident and they are near enough to the site.

"There is an historical context to this. We can't really do anything about houses that have been there for a number of years, we're talking about new developments.