Selby is set to hold a referendum on the controversial burning of petcoke at Drax Power Station.

The district council's ruling Labour group plans to sanction the ballot at an emergency meeting next Monday.

Ballot papers will then be posted to residents in villages surrounding Drax in time to meet the Environment Agency's consultation deadline of March 15.

Councillors say the referendum would be legal under Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972.

Bosses at AES Drax want to conduct an 18-month test burn of American petcoke.

The station lost £21 million in the first nine months of last year and is looking to petcoke, which is half the price of coal, to help get it out of the red.

Objectors, who dubbed it the "fuel from hell", say it poses public health and environmental risks because of the heavy metals and high level of sulphur it contains.

The call for a referendum was made by Labour councillor and father-of-five Rodney Price, of Carlton, one of the villages to be balloted.

Coun Price, an orthopaedic surgeon, claimed there was a risk that Selby and Goole would become the "asthma capitals" of Yorkshire if Drax was allowed to burn petcoke on a commercial scale.

He said: "I see about 7,000 local patients a year and every other one already uses an inhaler.

"As a father I'm deeply concerned that my children will suffer from the cumulative effects of heavy metals and dioxins pumped into the environment."

Coun Steve Shaw-Wright said: "The voice of local people must be heard and I'm sure they will turn out in their droves to vote."

Selby MP John Grogan said the referendum plans would not only produce a clear public view but also renew interest in the democratic process.

Drax chiefs argue that the last petcoke test burns in 1997 proved there was no adverse effects on either public health or the environment. They say the agency, which is still considering the latest application, gave the trials a clean bill of health and emissions were no different to a coal-only burn.

Updated: 14:45 Wednesday, February 27, 2002