DUMPING of dredged spoil from the River Tamar and the Dockyard off Rame Head has begun again, following the granting of a three-year licence to a company acting on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Campaigners, councillors, and MP Sheryll Murray have expressed disgust at the issuing of the licence. They say dumping off Rame Head should stop given the proximity of the newly-designated Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) in Whitsand Bay – and that an alternative site exists in deeper water.

In a letter to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO), the body responsible for giving the permission, Mrs Murray says: 'I am appalled the licence has been granted without mention of the alternative site. The beaches of Whitsand Bay have been sacrificed for far too long. I insist this new site is reclassified as the site for the disposal of dredged spoil, and the Rame site immediately closed.'

Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT) said: 'We believe the disposal of dredged material poses several potential risks to the marine environment, particularly to Whitsand and Looe Bay Marine Conservation Zone.

'We informed the MMO that a full Environmental Impact Assessment was needed to provide evidence there would be no significant environmental impacts. We are very disappointed this has not been carried out and that dumping has been given permission.'

Mrs Murray said she would continue to lobby for the reopening of the deeper site, and added: 'I will be approaching marine organisations to see if they will gather credible evidence of beach and coastal pollution, which will withstand legal scrutiny.'

The responsibility for reclassifying the alternative site, a former sewerage disposal site known as PL020, is unclear.

The MMO issues the licences but says it is up to the client to suggest alternative sites.

The MoD said: 'PL020 is closed. The only suitable regulated disposal site in close proximity to HMNB Devonport is off Rame Head.'