The new station will be a 800 megawatt gas-fired plant

Yorkshire company Carlton Power wants to build the Langage Energy Plant Project on the outskirts of Plymouth, which feature an 800-megawatt gas-fired plant.

The original outline planning permission was granted on 15 November, 2000, to last three years.

Now the company has applied to South Hams District Council for an 18-month extension, during which time it intends to submit a detailed planning application.

'Belt and braces'

The area had been owned by an American company NRG but it went bust earlier this year.

Carlton acquired the scheme after NRG ran into financial difficulty and put it up for sale.

The managing director of Carlton Power, Keith Clarke, said: "What we've done, because we actually lost 18 months last year and part of the year before with the demise of the previous owners, we've asked South Hams if we can do it in a more orderly fashion.

"We've done a belt and braces exercise. We've put in the plans and we've also asked for a little more time so as we can have a proper public consultation.

"This is a huge project. It needs to be considered not only by South Hams, but also a lot of other statutory authorities and the general public."

The extension application is expected before planning officials at South Hams District Council early in the new year.

The power station would mean reduced local energy prices, hundreds of new jobs during construction, and a new business park creating up to 2,000.

The whole project could cost up to �600m.

However, residents near the proposed site have voiced their objections to the plans, which were first given a government go-ahead in 2000.

They say they will continue to do all they can to stop them becoming reality.