Relief as firm wins court plea

A Stourport company which was threatened by a recent court decision has won an early Christmas present - a reprieve from the Court of Appeal.

OSS Group has been in a year-long dispute with the Environment Agency to get its recycled clean fuel oil (CFO) recognised as a product, not a waste.

Failure would put at risk the company's future and the jobs of its 175 employees.

OSS has invested £3 million in its refinery at Stourport to take waste oil from thousands of garages and factories nationwide and turn it into an environmentally friendly fuel, which it says produces less pollution than new oil.

It sells the fuel to power stations and quarry firms.

But the Environment Agency wants the fuel treated as a waste - surrounding its use with complicated regulations that would drive OSS out of business.

In November, OSS Group lost a High Court Judicial Review hearing.

The courts had previously granted OSS a stay of execution that prevented any enforcement action by the Environment Agency.

As part of its appeal process, OSS asked for this stay to be extended and the Court of Appeal has now ordered that the stay should continue until the final determination of the case