Europe's most advanced chicken plant?

A joint venture between Banham Poultry and Vion could create the ''most advanced'' chicken plant in Europe.

If the project goes ahead, the planned site will be able to process up to two million birds weekly.

On behalf of the two companies, civil engineering consultancy Plandescil has written to Mid Suffolk County Council to seek a formal scoping opinion on the proposed site location in Eye, Suffolk. This council opinion would indicate which impacts and issues an Environmental Impact Assessment of a proposed development should address.

In the letter to the council, Plandescil said: ''The plant will be built and operate to the highest standard, incorporating the latest thinking in chicken processing from across the world, and is set to be the most advanced plant in Europe.''

Plandescil also said a heavy goods vehicle would either enter or leave the site every four minutes during a 16–18 hour operational day, transporting live birds in and carrying finished product out. The factory is scheduled to operate for five days a week and 16 hours a day.

''However, with the associated clean-down time, dispatch etc., the plant will be manned 24/7,'' said the letter.