PEOPLE will be poisoned if a waste management site is allowed at Richborough, a councillor has claimed.

The fear has been expressed by Sandwich town councillor Minette Smith who has hit out at the latest rubbish scheme for the area.

A company called Richborough A want to build a "research and development facility for waste management and recycling" on the former power station site. Cllr Mrs Smith said: "This matters to us and we must fight this plan. We know that essentially we are going to be poisoned."

Other concerns raised by councillors included the volume of lorries bringing the waste to the site, which could be as many as 80 a day.

The town council decided to defer sending their comments on the plan until after a public exhibition by Richborough A has been completed this week.

One of the companies involved with the project is Wastec Limited, who would provide sorting machines for recycling metals, plastics and glass. Bubbles Horsley, a director of the company, said the main aim of the centre was to recycle.

Mr Horsley believes people are confusing the scheme with previous plans for incineration at Richborough."There will be no incineration here. We will be sanitising, reducing and recycling household waste," he added.