COMPENSATION for people living near the carcase burial site at the former Throckmorton airfield has been ruled out by a Defra spokesman.

Residents attending a public meeting held in the village's parish room last Thursday were given the news as independent consultants presented a report assessing health risks on the site.

The report, by environmental health specialists, Det Norske Veritas (DNV), was commissioned by Defra amid concerns that burial pits containing 133,000 mainly cattle and sheep carcases could cause problems such as seepage into local water supplies.

These fears had always been rejected by Defra and the DNV report concluded that such risks were "negligible" and impact on the environment would be "acceptable".

Report author, Tim Fowler, however, had some strong recommendations for Defra officials, particularly with regard to monitoring the site.

"There needs to be more work done to find out what is going on inside these pits so that they can be managed more effectively," he said.

He also expressed concern that, due to the large number of different organisations involved in managing the site, there was a risk of "discontinuities".

Defra spokesman, Jeremy Cowper, said the report confirmed the views of his department, explaining: "We can all be clear that the risks from the site are very low."

District councillor Liz Tucker said she had been satisfied by the report. "I hope that tonight is the significant end of another chapter," she said.

Vale MP Peter Luff, who attended the meeting, agreed, saying the report was a "job well done."

Despite this, several people at the meeting raised the issue of compensation, particularly as the report described the stress-related impacts of the site as significant.

Mr Cowper, however stated: "The position is that there is no case for compensation and we have no provision for it," he said. Defra officials are now in the process of preparing a written response to the report, which they say will be published within a month.