VITACRESS in St Mary Bourne has been told by the Government that it will have to carry out another environmental impact report on its rationalisation plans for the site.

The company had won planning permission for its plans, but earlier this year a judicial review put the application on hold when it was found that Basing-stoke and Deane Borough Council had failed to follow proper procedure.

The application was referred to the office of the Deputy Prime Minister, which has now decided that a full Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required.

Operations director Mike Rushworth said they now needed to decide what form the new study will take. "The last EIA was carried out over a year ago and we need to make sure the data is still relevant and take the opportunity to make sure we answer all the issues that anyone might have."