Petition launched to save 'in danger' bioethanol facility

'TIME RUNNING OUT FAST' FOR SALTEND PLANT

- By ANDREW SPENCE

A PETITION has been launched in support of the Vivergo Fuels bioethanol plant amid warnings it could shut without government intervention.

Despite the plant, which is at the Saltend Chemicals Park, east of Hull, being the UK's largest producer of bioethanol and claiming to support over 4,000 jobs either directly or through its supply chain including 160 jobs at the facility locally - Vivergo has warned that the US-UK trade deal announced earlier this month could lead to the plant's collapse.

The deal, announced by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump, included the removal of the 19 per cent tariff on ethanol imports from the United States which Vivergo claims will result in UK firms struggling to compete with imports from the US.