CAMPAIGNERS fighting a controversial waste incinerator project will lodge an appeal for a judicial review, despite doubts surrounding the scheme.

The move follows the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs withdrawing its provisional offer to underpin the incinerator at Allerton Park, near Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, with £65m of Private Finance Initiative credits earlier this month.

The PFI credits would have gone towards the £250m cost of building the plant, which would cost about £1.4bn over 25 years.

It is understood North Yorkshire County Council, which has given planning permission for the scheme it claimed would save taxpayers’ money, is reviewing its business case, the results of which are unlikely to be known before the summer.

North Yorkshire Waste Action Group (NYWAG) said while it remained unclear if the council would be able to bridge the funding gap it was crucial to overturn the council’s decision to grant the project planning permission.

A spokesman for the group said: “If alternative funding can be identified the scheme could still go ahead.

“Local people are really determined to fight this plan. It will be expensive to fight this case, but the money we need in future is less than we have already raised to get this far.

“We are confident we can achieve the necessary fundraising, because people increasingly realise just how ludicrously expensive and unnecessary this scheme is.

"A few pounds now will save households the thousands in the higher rates bills they would face if this scheme was to go ahead.”

Campaigners will submit papers to the High Court on Tuesday seeking permission for a judge to re-examine the lawfulness of the council’s planning permission decision.

The legal action follows a barrister reviewing the planning application and claiming the incinerator opponents had a strong case.

Funds have already been raised by numerous parish councils and NYWAG to meet the cost of seeking permission for a judicial review.

Campaigners say they are also confident about raising the funds needed to take the case through to a conclusion should the review be granted.

A council spokeswoman said it had not received the grounds of the judicial review, but it expected to defend any claim robustly.