PLANS to build a £185m incinerator has been approved by Cardiff council on behalf of the Vale council and five other authorities.

The contentious Viridor incinerator will be used to produce green energy by converting residual waste left after recycling and composting.

The plant will receive more than £100m from the Welsh government over 25 years after it begins in September 2015, with 40 jobs being created.

The issue is being taken to Cardiff High Court on Wednesday, December 18 for a judicial review on behalf of Pauline Ellaway, member of the Cardiff Against the Incinerator group.

Wales Green Party leader Pippa Bartolotti also expressed grave concerns about the deal.

She said: “This decision is wrong on every count, from the air pollution which will damage health prospects for thousands, to the fact that perfectly saleable recyclable materials will go up in smoke.

“The people of Wales will be paying a high price for this incinerator in terms our future health and our wallets. Recycling rates are going up, and overall waste is going down.

"When the contracted amount of waste does not arrive at the incinerator door, taxpayers will have to make good the shortfall in hard cash.

"It’s a lose, lose situation and yet another example of profits being sucked out of our local economies by large multinational organisations with no thought for locals having to breathe in dioxins and other harmful substances.”

Viridor have said that, at full capacity, the plant will generate 28mw of electricity, enough to power 50,000 households.