PLANS that could see a waste incinerator built at Richborough Power Station, near Sandwich, have come under fire from the area’s Labour MP.

Kent County Council has indicated that Richborough is one of four possible locations it has earmarked for waste-to-energy plants in the east of the county in a bid to cope with Kent’s growing mountain of rubbish.

Richborough was abandoned as a potential site several years ago but has now re-emerged in a new waste strategy being considered by the county council.

Thanet South MP and Labour minister Dr Steve Ladyman described the proposals as "very worrying" and has demanded clarity over plans for Richborough.

He said KCC appeared to be "carrying out a consultation that will lead to the building of incinerators but without saying so".

The MP said: "Plans to build an incinerator at Richborough were vigorously opposed by people from Sandwich and Ramsgate and they appeared to have been dropped in favour of the recycling facility currently under construction. KCCs latest consultation seems to be raising the issue once again and are very worrying."

But his claim was angrily denied by KCC’s Conservative cabinet member Cllr Graham Gibbens.

"The charge is completely unjustified. What we are doing is consulting, which is what we are legally required to do and we have no pre-determined stance on the issue. We have come up with four sites and are now looking for feedback from the public," said Cllr Gibbens.

KCC says at least one more incinerator and possibly two, will be needed to deal with the growing mountain of household and industrial rubbish it has to deal with.

Despite a drive to encourage more recycling, the authority estimates that on current trends, it will be managing more than 300,000 tonnes of additional household waste each year.

At the moment, around 800,000 tonnes of rubbish is produced in Kent each year. Consultation on the strategy is underway and will last 10 weeks.