HALTON Council has netted millions of pounds from the disposal of its stake in a public sector waste company last week

3C Waste, a Chester-based company owned jointly by Halton, Warrington and Cheshire councils, has been sold to Yorkshire Environmental Solutions (YES) for £120 million.

The council has cleared £13.2 million on the deal.

And the new owners say that there will be no redundancies - for the time being, at least.

YES spokesman Mike Snell said: "When we acquired the company, we gave the employees a guarantee of one year's employment. All of their rights will be protected.

"It will allow our company the ability to grow more quickly. 3C waste is a very successful company."

The new owner, a subsidiary of Yorkshire Water, has in turn agreed an option on 3C with a company that plans to take on its waste management functions.

Last year, the company made a profit of £4.3 million on turnover of almost £40 million.

3C was founded 20 years ago and has operated quasi-independently for the past five.

Halton had only become involved in negotiations on the sale when they were already at an advanced stage, said council leader Dave Cargill, but he hoped that Halton's share of the windfall would benefit local people.

"Our share of the receipt is an added bonus, we intend to put to good use for the benefit of all our chargepayers in Halton," said Cllr Cargill.

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