OXFORDSHIRE County Council's decision to back the construction of a new incinerator to burn waste flies in the face of common sense, according to Green campaigners.

County Hall has come out in favour of creating a giant burner where up to 200,000 tonnes of waste a year could be blitzed to generate electricity.

Detailed plans will be drawn up in the New Year.

Green group Oxford city councillor Craig Simmons said: "Incinerators, even those which produce electricity, are a very environmentally inefficient means of dealing with domestic waste.

"Numerous studies have shown that incineration produces very small amounts of energy and relatively high-levels of climate-damaging greenhouse gases."

County Hall said incineration was "widely used in other European countries and safe".