LOCAL environmentalists are furious with the County Council for trying to push through plans for a massive waste incinerator.

The county's plans has plans to incinerate 325,000 tonnes of waste despite mounting evidence that incinerators are bad for public health and the environment.

The location is being kept secret while the Council pushes through the principle of incinerating waste, but planning applications will be invited soon.

Speaking this week, Prof John Whitelegg, the Green Party prospective parliamentary candidate for Lancaster and Wyre said: "Incinerators damage health, create tens of thousands of lorry movements on our roads and damage efforts to get recycling rates up to standards to be found in other countries. Lancashire County Council is on a course that will dump the pollution and the poison from these plants on local residents and they must be stopped."

Emily Heath, Green Party Councillor for Scotforth West said: "The greens on the city council have consistently opposed this wretched idea. It will bring nothing but misery to all those unfortunate enough to live nearby. We don't yet know where it will go but we do know that burning waste is a big mistake. We can deal with waste by recycling more, by composting and by persuading manufacturers to reduce packaging. The worst thing we could do is to lock ourselves into a polluting and dangerous technology for the next 25 years."

Jon Barry, Green Party Councillor for Castle Ward said: "I have written to the chief executive of the county council to find out where this incinerator is likely to go.

"Wherever it goes, nowhere in Lancashire is safe as incinerators such as these have a plume reaching for up to 46 miles. We don't need a yet larger cocktail of cancer-causing dioxins being spewed into Lancashire's environment."