A CONTROVERSIAL scheme to build Hampshire's first gasification plant at Timsbury has been put on hold.

BKP's application for a research and development gasifer - capable of turning waste, including old tyres, wood and other materials - into energy was met with horror by villagers at nearby Braishfield.

Now BKP has announced it has withdrawn the application temporarily so that parish councils in the area can be fully consulted about the proposals. Worried residents in Michelmersh, Timsbury and Braishfield will be able to feed their views through the relevant parish councils.

Company managing director Nick Scott Healey said BKP wanted to reassure people that they had nothing to fear about their plans for the Bunny Lane site.

"We want to alleviate residents fears. Parish councils will be given all the information about our proposals and we will be happy for residents to comment through the parish councils. We are hoping to resubmit the plans in September," said Mr Scott Healey, pointing out that the application site at Casbrook Park has had a chequered and an extensive history of industrial use and is about half-a-mile away from the nearest home.

It started out as a gravel pit in 1897 and a sawmill was built there in the late 1940s and in 1968 it was home to an asphalt company. A host of other uses also took place before BKP moved to the site in 1987.