Campaigners have accused a company of blackmail to get planning permission for a controversial incinerator.

Sutton Council last week gave planning permission for waste management company Viridor to build an Energy Recovery Facility (ERF) in Beddington Lane to incinerate the borough's rubbish.
The decision was greeted with cries of derision from hundreds of campaigners who attended last Wednesday's heated meeting.

Viridor's proposal to build the plant, which would take up to 275,000 tonnes of rubbish from Sutton, Merton, Kingston and Croydon, includes mitigation which would constitute just under £3m of investment in the area immediately around the park.

The measures include building an education centre, public access routes to parkland, funding a warden for the parkland and more.

They also include more technical aspects like an extra 10m on the height of the chimney and further treatment to emissions, beyond Government guidelines.

But Viridor's representative at the meeting, head of projects Rob Ryan, said mitigation would not be guaranteed if councillors refused planning permission and Viridor win at appeal, prompting cries of "blackmail" from members of campaign group Stop the Incinerator in the audience.

Councillor Mary Burstow asked Mr Ryan: "If we turn this down will you appeal and, if you appeal, do we risk all the mitigation we have agreed with you? Could we lose them all?"

Mr Ryan replied: "We can't guarantee those mitigations will be there."

At a previous planning meeting councillors tied a vote and the decision was deferred to last Wednesday. But, having heard further arguments, Liberal Democrat councillors who previously voted against or abstained changed their minds.

Shasha Khan, of campaign group Stop the Incinerator,who are opposed to the incinerator because of alleged health risks from emissions and the impact it could have on the environment, said: "It's just a poor example of representative democracy. There were so many reasons that the council could have voted against but it felt like they were frightened by the threat from Viridor."

Following the meeting, a Viridor spokesman said: "We are acutely aware of our responsibility to the communities within which we operate and want this development to generate significant benefits for the local area. However, in the event of an appeal, no applicant can guarantee that the same package will be made available as originally agreed.

"This is a reflection of the planning process and nothing more."

Campaigners are now taking their concerns to Mayor of London Boris Johnson who could veto the application on the grounds it is on an area reserved for public use as metropolitan green land.

Stop the Incinerator started a petition and is distributing letters people can send to the Mayor's office if they oppose the plans.

A spokesman for the Mayor of London's office said Mr Johnson would look at evidence from both sides before coming to a decision next month.