CAMPAIGNERS against a controversial £1.4bn waste incinerator complex are determined their fight will go on – despite the project winning planning permission.

Just the day after the complex at Allerton Park, near Knaresborough, was given the go-ahead they have insisted the battle is not over.

And now they are pinning their hopes on forcing a public inquiry to be held – at which they are confident their arguments will win the day.

Developers AmeyCespa hope the complex – for which they already have a 25-year contract – will deal with up to 320,000 tonnes of rubbish a year, taking it from existing outdated landfill sites.

But objectors say it is too big, too expensive and environmentally unsustainable – and are calling for the issue to be “called-in” by the Secretary of State so a public inquiry can be held.

“We always knew it would be an uphill struggle with NYCC, given that the council voted in favour of the scheme back in December 2010,” said Steve Wright, the chairman of the North Yorkshire Waste Action Group.

“We remain confident that the outcome of an independent planning inquiry will be that the application is rejected.”

He said the North Yorkshire County Council had still to prove the scheme offered value for money and added: “We intend to prove it most certainly does not.”

He added: “Now the time has come to step up the pressure for call-in. 

“We know that the Secretary of State takes into account the weight of opposition in decided whether to order call-in, and that means we are asking for one last big effort to secure an independent public inquiry.

“We need as many people as possible to write to the Secretary of State asking for call-in.”