POLITICIANS at national and local level are backing residents furious about an East Cleveland sewage scheme.

A campaign to stop storage tanks being built near a beauty spot received a boost on two fronts this week. Councillors and an MP told Northumbrian Water that any storage tank scheme in Marske must meet residents' concerns.

The moves came as members of an action group claimed they were being sidelined by the water company. But Northumbrian Water insisted it was considering alternative options put forward by the group.

Campaigners say the tanks scheme would devastate the Headlands and that it is too close to homes.

In December, Northumbrian Water staged a meeting to gauge local opinion and was stunned as hundreds of people turned up to register their fears. Redcar and Cleveland Council then called for top-level talks with the company in a bid to defuse the issue.

That meeting - lasting more than 90 minutes - has now taken place, involving council leader, Coun David Walsh, and chief executive, Colin Moore. A council spokesman said the talks were constructive.

"Northumbrian Water will be coming back to us having considered various options and we will be looking for a solution that meets both technical requirements and the real concerns of residents," he said.

But John Thompson, chairman of Marske Against Raw Sewage - Klean Environment, was angry that members had not heard from Northumbrian Water. "We don't know what is going on," he said. "They are trying to ignore us."

The group has submitted a plan for holding tanks on The Stray, away from homes and aimed at minimum impact on the beauty spot.

"But we are worried about the lack of feedback and think the company could be trying to sideline us," Mr Thompson added.

He welcomed the show of support from the council and MP for Redcar, Vera Baird, who has met Northumbrian Water about the proposals.

"The people of Marske have strong, well articulated and justifiable concerns that such a development would threaten a small and precious area," Mrs Baird said.

Northumbrian Water spokesman Andrew Panting said: "At our meeting with Mrs Baird, we accepted we had moved away from our initial position to put tanks near the Headland. But the further away they are moved the more costly it becomes.

"We have to come up with a scheme which will work and compromises mean we could build in extra risks. We still feel our original proposal is the best, but locally and politically it was unacceptable, so now we are looking at alternatives."

He pledged: "The people are not being sidelined. We are not talking to them because there is nothing more to say just now."

Police leaflets for burglary victims

IN A bid to heighten awareness of burglaries in the Stockton area, police have been distributing leaflets to neighbours of people who have been burgled.

They hope this will alert them to the fact they live in a similar type of house and that they need to take more care of the homes in that vicinity to avoid the same thing happening to them.

Wallace Sayer, Stockton crime prevention panel development manager, urged more people to join the Neighbourhood Watch scheme.