If Oxfordshire’s policy on dealing with residual waste was confused before this week, it is even more confused now. The county council’s decision to allow the market to dictate that policy led to two deeply unpopular applications for incinerators — one in the north and the other in the south of the county.

At the time, many argued that the county council should be taking the lead and opting for more environmentally friendly ways of treating waste such as Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT).

The county pressed on, opting for the proposed incinerator at Ardley. Its planners then put a spanner in the works by refusing both planning applications.

Now Waste Recycling Group (WRG), which had proposed an incinerator for Sutton Courtenay, has now drawn up a plan for an MBT plant at the same site, saying it could provide a contingency for the county council or, ominously, an option for London to deal with its waste.

We have been consistent critics of the county council’s plan to leave it to the market to decide how best to deal with the county’s waste.

It is such an important issue that we believe County Hall should be showing the way rather than following the market.

Ultimately, the market may deliver an incinerator for Oxfordshire but also MBT for London in Oxfordshire. A double whammy.