ANTI-nuclear campaigners living near Shepperdine have delivered a rallying war cry against government proposals to build a new power plant near their homes.

Members of Shepperdine Against Nuclear Power (SANE) have said they will continue their campaign to stop another nuclear power station being built at Shepperdine, near Oldbury.

Reg Illingworth, chairman for SANE, said: "The energy and power remains with us as a conscious set of people who fully understand the full ramifications of a complete lack of vision in energy policy in the UK. It is us who will pay.

"We pledge to peacefully halt new nuclear and to close down the existing old and risky sites, and we will overcome."

The comment comes after the government published its final list of eight sites it believes are suitable for new nuclear power stations, including one at Oldbury.

The proposals for new nuclear power plants are part of a series of national policy statements on energy, which have been published following a public consultation.

Horizon Nuclear Power, who have proposed to build on the site at Shepperdine near Oldbury, welcomed the announcement by the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

Alan Raymant, Chief Operating Officer of Horizon, said: "The publication of these statements represents another step forward towards the delivery of new nuclear developments in the UK.

"Oldbury is an excellent site for nuclear new build and a new power station here can bring hundreds of jobs and millions of pounds of investment into the area."

Horizon plans to deliver around 6,000 MW of new nuclear power station capacity in the UK by 2025. As well as its Oldbury site, the company has a site a Wylfa on the Island of Anglesey, North Wales.

Earlier this month, before the government announcement, the company held two days of drop in sessions in Oldbury and Thornbury where members of the public could speak with representatives about Horizon’s proposals.

Tony Mitchell, a retired nuclear engineer from Thornbury who worked at the current Oldbury plant, said even he had concerns about Horizon’s proposals.

He said: "I am totally against the plans simply because of the scale of what they are proposing. What they are building it three power stations under the guise of one."

Felllow Thornbury resident Graham Jasper, who also attended the exhibition, said: "I am concerned about the plans and I’m concerned about how big it’s going to be."

The other sites named by the government for new nuclear build are Bradwell, Essex; Hartlepool; Heysham, Lancashire; Hinkley Point, Somerset; Sellafield, Cumbria; Sizewell, Suffolk; and Wylfa, Anglesey.

The plans will be debated and voted on in Parliament.