RESIDENTS and councillors are gearing up for a battle to stop a gas-fired power station being built in Ebbw Vale.

The scheme for a 1,200 megawatt plant will be considered by a full meeting of Blaenau Gwent county borough council on September 12.

But the application by Enron for a site at Rassau - which could create 150 jobs - is opposed by locals who have collected a 3,000 signature petition.

Rassau councillor John Williams said: "The people of Rassau, to the last man, do not want it and we have been let down so many times in the past with dirty industry coming to this area, we just don't want it.

"Once the plant is there you can never do anything about it and it would be impossible to shield it from the public eye."

Mr Williams believes the enormous plant would cast a shadow over the Rassau area with stacks as high as 60 metres which would be a disaster for the visual impact of the area.

He also rejected the notion that the plant could create 150 jobs, adding: "I recently went on a tour of the smaller Rye gas-fired power station in London and I only counted seven workers, which included two security guards at the gate of the premises.

"The creation of 150 jobs is just a fallacy because most of the work is automated - the jobs are not there.

"Far from benefiting the local economy, it could threaten local factories, including a food processing plant near to the proposed site." The 3,000 signature signature petition against the £400m scheme was submitted to the Welsh Office.

Alex Parsons, spokesman for Enron, told the Argus: "This is a £400 million project and we made it clear how many jobs would be involved. There will be 1,000 in construction alone.

"We have said all along we are committed to sourcing as many jobs locally as possible." Leader of Blaenau Gwent council, Councillor John Hopkins, said: "We are only consultees in the matter and we have to report all the findings to the Department of Trade and Industry ."

The report into the council's findings will not come out until five days before the meeting of the full council on September 12.

A large group of protesters is expected to be in attendance to make their concerns felt.