Hanson Cement upgrade plan 'would safeguard jobs'

The works was opened in 1949

Plans to invest £20m to modernise a Flintshire cement factory will safeguard 96 jobs, a report has said.

Hanson Cement wants to install a 34m (111ft) vertical mill at its site at Padeswood, near Mold, to grind cement.

It also aims to upgrade its sidings so more material can be transported off site by rail instead of using HGVs.

Concerns have been raised about emissions but councillors approved the plans at a meeting on Wednesday with conditions about issues such as dust.

Bosses have said the plans will "improve efficiency, reduce energy consumption, and increase output".

Cement is made by heating crushed limestone and other minerals together to make clinker - grey balls, about the size of marbles - which is then ground to make cement.

The Padeswood plant, which has been producing cement since 1949, has four operational mills but they are said to be "old and inefficient".

They do not have the capacity to turn the volume of clinker made by the on-site kilns into cement, meaning it is transported off-site for grinding.

The council report said the new vertical roller mill would be capable of grinding up to 650,000 tonnes of clinker a year into cement.