VILLAGERS are gearing up for another battle with the firm behind Oxfordshire’s first incinerator.

The move comes after waste firm Viridor submitted an application to Oxfordshire County Council to overturn a restriction agreed at a 2010 public inquiry.

The firm was given approval to build its burner at Ardley, near Bicester. But as a condition, it must stop importing a waste liquid to its treatment works at Ardley once the incinerator is up and running.

The liquid in question is Leachate – a substance generated by landfill waste which is treated and pumped into the sewage system.

At the inquiry, Bucknell Parish Council raised concerns about the liquid causing a gel-like substance to build up in the sewage system. They claimed this had already resulted in flooding in the village.

They say overturning the condition will mean more lorries going to and from the site and increase the risk of flooding. And they called for a thorough scientific investigation before any decision is made.

Parish councillor Hazel Watt said: “There’s quite strong feeling about it in Bucknell.”

Mrs Watt said that because the decision to include the condition was made by the Secretary of State, only the minister should remove it.

She added: “If this goes through it will be a clear-cut example of power over truth.”

In a report submitted with the application, Viridor and Thames Water said leachate was not the cause of flooding in Bucknell.

Neither Thames Water nor the Environment Agency have objected to the application.

A spokesman for Viridor said: “Viridor and other landfill operators recognise that the existing leachate treatment plant at Ardley provides a cost-effective and efficient solution in the region and, as a result, Viridor considers it is necessary to apply to the planning authority to reinstate the permission previously held.”

Oxfordshire County Council spokesman Paul Smith said: “The county council is obliged to determine it as local planning authority unless the Secretary of State calls it in.”

The matter will go before the council’s planning and regulation committee. A date has not been decided.

Groundwork for the incinerator started in December and the facility is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2014.