A confidential report investigating concerns with an animal rendering plant near Denholme will not be made fully public.

Legal advice given at last night’s Environment and Waste Management Overview and Scrutiny Committee was to hold back the whole detailed findings of a consultant employed by the Council to look into odour problems at Omega Proteins at Erlings Works near Thornton and Denholme.

Instead the public will have to make do with a carefully-worded summary, leaving out any information that could cause complexities if the Council takes Omega proteins to court. The advice sparked off a heated debate with some councillors saying the public would not be getting what it had been expecting. Councillor Val Slater (Lab, Royds) said the Council was caught up in a “Catch 22”. Councillor Mike McCabe (Con, Thornton) who wanted the full report published, said: “This Council has no backbone. It’s caution, caution, caution. It’s an embarassment to be a councillor for Thornton right now.”

At the last scrutiny committee there had been no indication there would be any problem disclosing the report.