Bid to stop asbestos ship coming to UK

A legal challenge has been launched to stop an asbestos-contaminated French aircraft carrier being dismantled in the UK.

The Clemenceau, once the flagship of the French navy, was considered too toxic for Indian breakers' yards. It is estimated to contain 760 tonnes of asbestos and 330 tonnes of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).

It is now destined for Graythorp, near Hartlepool, County Durham, to be broken up by Able UK.

But campaign group Friends of Hartlepool (FOH), acting through lawfirm Public Interest Lawyers, has won the right to challenge a High Court decision which allowed the project to go ahead.

No date has been set for the Court of Appeal hearing, but the ship is expected to remain in France until the case has been decided.

Jean Kennedy, of FOH, said lawyers would argue that the decision of the Health and Safety Executive to allow the importation of the Clemenceau and its carcinogenic cargo was unlawful.

Solicitor Gavin Sullivan said: "We have asked Able UK to undertake not to take any steps to import this ship into Hartlepool until the court has made its decision.

"Obviously, should Able seek to try to bring this ship from France regardless, we will consider seeking directions from the court to prevent them from doing so."

Iris Ryder, another member of FOH, said: "This is a fantastic result for the people of Hartlepool and takes us one step closer to preventing this toxic waste from being imported and dumped in our community.

"People and groups on both sides of the Channel are rightly asking serious questions about the safety of Able's proposals."

It has been docked off the port of Brest in France since 2006 when the French government called it back from India in the wake of widespread protests.

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

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