A campaign group is appealing for more support against a planned incinerator near Saltash.

Lobby group Stifle – which stands for Stop the Incinerator Fouling Land at Ernesettle – already has support from hundreds of people after they held a protest meeting which was attended by Plymouth MP Aliston Seabeck and South East Cornwall MP Colin Breed.

Joe Ellison of Stifle said: 'After the success of the last meeting, which saw around 250 people turn out, we will be holding another meeting within the next fortnight. Our aim is to get as many people on board as necessary to stop the incinerator going to Ernesettle.

'Not only are there environmental factors to consider, but there are traffic concerns and the site will spoil the view of an area of outstanding natural beauty.'

'As well as hoping to get local organisations around the Tamar backing us, we are also appealing for Cornwall County Council to back the protest, as they originally agreed to the plans when they were first set out in 2007, but we think they might have overlooked the implications for Cornwall.'

The Ernesettle site is one of four proposed by South West Devon Waste Partnership (SWDWP) following a grant of £95m by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to treat non-recyclable waste from Plymouth, South Devon and Torbay.

Until an incinerator is built, Plymouth's rubbish is being dumped in Lean Quarry near Liskeard. A decision has not been made as to where the waste incinerator will be sited. Contractors will bid and be assessed before any final decision is made.

Mark Turner, project director for SWDWP, said: 'All four sites have potential to provide heat and power, which could be used by nearby industry, community facilities or be fed back into the national grid.

'As has been stated many times before, no site has been chosen yet. The partnership will evaluate the final proposals by contractors before awarding the contract in autumn 2010.

'The contractor will still have to apply for any planning permissions before they can proceed.'

A decision on the final shortlist of contractors bidding will be made by the end of this week.