UP TO 20,000 tonnes of ash from foot-and-mouth pyres across the region will be stored on Teesside, it was confirmed this week.

Redcar MP Vera Baird said that the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had confirmed the figure with her.

It is unclear how long the ash will remain at the Freightliner terminal, at the Wilton site, near Redcar, as a final destination for it has not yet been agreed.

Last week it was revealed that ash from the mass burial site at Widdrington, Northumberland, would be stored temporarily at the depot, before going to a landfill site in the South-East.

On Tuesday, Ms Baird called for the ash to be taken to a different site away from built-up areas. She is calling for an Adjournment Debate in the House of Commons, to discuss how the situation has been handled.

Ms Baird said: "The problem is that the officials who are managing the process behave as if they have something to hide.

"They have changed tack so often that nobody can trust them now. I fear the people of Wilton will now never be reassured."

Gordon Kingston, regional operations director of the Newcastle Disease Emergency Control Centre, said: "We are confident that we have taken every precaution, and that the collection and transfer of the ash will proceed smoothly over the next few weeks. We are mindful of the real public concern."