NORTH Sea oil and gas supplies have a limited life, we have very few coal mines still operating and for many people nuclear power is not an acceptable energy option.

With this backdrop it is crucial that we make every possible effort as a nation to economise on energy use and embrace alternative fuel sources that are green and clean.

If we don't, the only alternative is that Britain will have to rely on other countries for power and that means we could be vulnerable to the unscrupulous and find ourselves held to ransom by foreign politicians for their own ends.

So pioneering projects like that planned for Samlesbury are a welcome innovation.

United Utilities have gained a £1million grant to go ahead with a full-scale £8million plant to turn waste-water sludge into fertiliser and at the same time generate bio-gas which can be used as fuel to generate enough electricity to power 1,000 homes.

Since there is unlikely ever to be a shortage of such sewage, this recycling scheme would seem to have infinite possibilities.

That's provided, of course, that the process does not have any detrimental affect, like unwanted odours for those living in and around Cuerdale Lane.