A CONTROVERSIAL shipment of ash from foot-and-mouth pyres is being stored at a Teesside haulage depot until permission is granted to move it to a rail terminal.

The first delivery of 3,000 tons of ash was taken to the depot, at an undisclosed location, rather than its intended destination, the Freightliner terminal at Wilton, near Grangetown, when it arrived on Friday.

From the terminal, the ash, taken from Hemscott Hill, in Northumberland, will be transported elsewhere by rail.

But before Freightliner can receive it, permission must be secured from Enron, which owns the Wilton site.

Vicky Askew, a spokesman for Freightliner, said: "We have to give 48 hours' notice in writing for the storage of any extraordinary containers.

"We can see no reason at all why Enron would not let us store the ash."

Vera Baird, the MP for Redcar, said: "I think we have to wonder about the wisdom of moving this stuff around to places unaffected by the disease.

"After all, that is how the disease has spread."