A high price for scrapyard work.

MANY will remember the furore three years ago when it was revealed that Hart-lepool, on the north-east coast, was being sent a flotilla of rusting old hulks - dubbed toxic "ghost ships" - for dismantling, courtesy of the US authorities.

The area was up in arms, according to press reports at the time, with individuals prepared to mount protests who had never in their lives contemplated protesting about anything before.

As we reveal today, an official report into the problem has now bracketed the North-East and Wirral as the only two places in Britain capable of carrying out any similar work in the future.

A government study, in one of those back-handed compliments for which such reports are renowned, highlighted the area's rich shipbuilding history in identifying it as a place possessing the ideal skills for a permanent maritime scrapheap.

We have heard stories in the past about how the Government might utilise those very same skills to resurrect shipbuilding in Birkenhead, and award the area a key naval contract or two.

Alas, they came to naught, and the area has now been recognised instead as the ideal base for a riverside breaker's yard.

Such a move would undoubtedly bring jobs into the area, and help restore the maritime reputation which took such a painful blow with the closure of Cammell Laird 13 years ago.

But some might claim those jobs would come with too high a price in their wake. Yes, the industry might be worth pounds 3.5bn over the coming years, with around 30 warships and 400 EU-flagged single-hulled tankers due to be scrapped, but would we be making a huge environmental sacrifice in welcoming them here?

Old vessels often contain asbestos and lead, and need specialist handling if the dismantling process is not to imperil the safety of those working in and living around the docklands area concerned.

No doubt any firm bidding for the work would offer guarantees of safety, were they to be successful. But that would still not stop a great deal of concern being raised, and a huge number of people asking an enormous number of questions.