Closing Allington Incinerator would be “better for tax payers” according to a council chief.

Cllr Keith Ferrin (Con), KCC’s cabinet member for the environment, has admitted shutting it down would save money.

It was revealed that its furnaces are also burning money - KCC is losing up to £1 million a year because of its long-term contract with Kent Enviropower to run the site.

Plans for the incinerator were fiercely opposed by residents when first proposed by KCC.

A 25-year deal for the site was signed 10 years ago, committing KCC to sending 320,000 tonnes of waste a year to be burned.

But a decade later the plant has never been fully operational.

After battling residents to get planning permission, the incinerator was finally finished about two years ago but it has been dogged by a series of problems.

Cllr Ferrin admits that better and cheaper options for dealing with recyclable waste have been developed in the last 10 years. He said that KCC was now committed to a contract it can’t get out of.

Mr Ferrin said he could not see a way out of the current dilemma, save for another waste disposal authority buying the contract from them, or the incinerator shutting completely.

He said: “The current closure of the incinerator at the moment is good news, as I have cheaper methods of disposal.

“Financially, it’s much better for the tax payers if Allington doesn’t work, in fact I’d quite like it.

“But it needs to either work all the time or stop completely - stopping and starting is what causes problems for local residents.”

Enviropower said in a statement: “The facility at Allington is key to reducing Kent’s reliance on landfill and is part of an integrated, sustainable and environmentally friendly solution to managing local people’s waste.”