RESIDENTS who claim their town is becoming a dustbin, say plans to expand an incinerator should be referred to a planning inspector.

People living in Billingham say they are fed up with living in the shadow of chemical complexes, power plants and incinerators.

The last straw came with the granting of planning permission for a domestic waste incinerator at nearby Haverton Hill, enabling it to expand by 50 per cent and take waste from outside Teesside.

Opponents of the plans said they believed the plant would only ever deal with waste from within the former Cleveland area.

They could tolerate the plant's activities because of this apparent restriction, but say the new expansion would increase air pollution through the import of waste.

This is seen by opponents as other councils washing their hands of the problem at the expense of Teesside's air quality.

An increase in air pollution would also harm people's health, when Teesside already has among the worst health records in the country, they say.

Leading campaigner Jim Vaughan, of Sidlaw Crescent, Billingham, has written to the Government Office of the North-East's planning and environment office in protest.

The protest has been joined by the Green Party.

Mr Vaughan said: "We accepted the need for a cleaner, less polluting incinerator to deal with Cleveland's waste.

"We were assured that the plant would only be dealing with Teesside waste, under a partnership with the boroughs.

"But now it is expanding to deal with demand from County Durham and North Yorkshire, which is a step too far.

"They get rid of their rubbish, but we get their pollution at a time when we keep getting air pollution health warnings for people with asthma."

Peter Goodwin, of Teesside Green Party, has asked for the planning approval, granted by Stockton Borough Council, to be called in for a public inquiry because of the regional significance of the planned burning capacity. He called for more recycling through composting to meet Government targets.

A spokesman for plant operators Cleveland Waste Management said emissions would rise with an increase in burning, but would still be far below the levels set by law.

He said the burner also recycled ash as a building material and heat to create electricity.

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