BOSSES at Clitheroe's Castle Cement have hit back after its Ribblesdale Works was named in the top 100 carbon emitting sites in the UK.

The factory, which employs more than 100 workers, produced about one million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the last year according to European Union figures.

But today bosses said that the company had already reduced emissions by 10 per cent and once the wet kilns, which are due for closure, shut the amount of carbon being produced will drop further. Carbon emissions are widely blamed as the main cause of global warming, and the EU has a carbon trading scheme which is hoped will help combat the problem.

Castle Cement is a member the scheme, which allows companies to either reduce emissions or buy unused allocations from other companies if they are likely to exceed their limit.

According to EU figures, Ribblesdale Works was allocated 1,159,011 tonnes under the scheme, but only used 1,003,847.

A spokesman for the company said it was important to remember that cement production was an energy intensive industry, but that the company was actively tackling the issue.

"We have a ten per cent reduction which equates to 400,000 tonnes of CO2 that we are not emitting. This is only going to increase with the closure of the wet kilns."

In March the company was given permission to burn meat and bone meal as a substitute fuel. During a six-month trial the company saved the use of 8,000 tonnes of coal.

A spokesman for the British Cement Association through Castle said energy represents 35 per cent of the industry's fixed costs, so it makes sense to become more efficient and reduce environmental impact.

He said that by 2004 the industry had cut it energy consumption by 21.1 per cent on 1990 rates, and was likely to hit its target of a 26.8 per cent reduction by 2010.

"The sector is a proactive participant in the European Emissions Trading Scheme, and has achieved savings of over three million tonnes of carbon since 1990.

"This has been achieved by significant investment in new and updated plants, and the use of wastes as both fuels and raw materials to the tune of more than one million tonnes a year."