The firm behind plans to build a huge waste incinerator has hit back at claims the waste burners are "potentially lethal".

Dr Dick Van Steenis, a former GP and House of Lords adviser, presented data at a public meeting in Ardley on Wednesday of last week which he claimed demonstrated a link between incinerators and poor health, including heart attacks, cancers and infant mortality.

However, Viridor has rejected claims that burning 300,000 tonnes of the county's waste every year would have any harmful effects.

Spokesman Dan Cooke said: "The claim Energy from Waste plants are potentially lethal and illegal is a discredited opinion held by a tiny but vocal minority, which has for years struggled to find any backing from the wider scientific community.

"Over the last ten years, detailed and reliable research studies, including those commissioned by the Government and Health Protection Agencies, have rejected the thesis that there are any significant health risks associated with Energy from Waste plants."