Tony Allen says the investment is vital

AMs began discussing the findings of a public inquiry into the proposals on Monday, which include plans to burn a controversial fuel made from chemical waste.

Plans for the new kiln - which will burn Cemfuel - have been in the hands of the authorities for nearly three years.

The application for the development was first put forward in 1999 and initially approved by Flintshire County Council in February 2000.

But within weeks, the plans were called in by the assembly following opposition on environmental grounds.

A public inquiry was then launched which ended more than a year ago.

Harmful Emissions

The company has argued that the investment is vital to modernise the outdated plant.

Castle Cement General Manager Tony Allen said he was "delighted" by the decision - especially for the workforce.

"Everyone's very emotional because 220 jobs on site and 400 indirect jobs have been secured," he said.

"We have two years to build the kiln and we are working with the environment agency, we need to agree with them how we will control emissions from the new plant.

"We hope to start building straight away."

But the new kiln is designed to run on Cemfuel, a controversial concoction of waste solvents and chemicals.

Opponents say emissions from it could be harmful.

On top of planning approval, Castle Cement also need approval from the Environment Agency for the project.

That ruling is not expected until later this year.