Biogas is produced from cow dung

Biogas Ireland Limited said land they hoped to build on near Brookeborough has been taken off the market.

A spokesman said farmers would be "the biggest losers" as they would now struggle to meet European Union waste management regulations.

But DUP assembly member Arlene Foster said public money had been wasted.

"I understand that the Department of Agriculture has already invested over �80,000 into this.

"It has already been paid out in relation to project coordination, consultancy fees and other professional and technical fees," she said.

"This has been handled quite badly in relation to identifying the site and not consulting the local community before they went ahead with this."

Project

The project would have processed catering and farm waste to provide electricity - but protesters were unhappy.

A spokesperson for the Brookeborough Tempo Fivemiletown Environmental Group said it was a contentious issue.

"This has been farmer against farmer in the area," she said, adding that the "vast majority" of farmers were opposed to the site.

"There were health issues, animal health - using chicken manure; pollution both to the water and air; blood and bones in the waste; the traffic nuisance in the area," she said.

The spokesperson refuted the view that the plant would have helped farmers deal with an EU directive on nitrates.

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Development said it was "naturally disappointed" that this innovative project was unable to proceed, but the decision was one for Biogas (Ireland).

"Although �81,000 was paid out for Phase 1 pre-construction costs to this project, this represents a tiny proportion of the �3.1million which would have been available had the project gone ahead," a statement from Dard said.