Campaigners have vowed to fight on against plans for a waste plant after they received the thumbs up.

Proposals by Gent Fairhead and Co Ltd for a 25.3-hectare waste site in Rivenhall were approved by Essex County Council’s development and regulation committee on Friday.

But objectors have said they will continue the fight against the combined heat and power plant with a 35-metre-high stack, which they hope will go to a public inquiry.

James Abbott, of campaign group Stop the Incinerator, said: “We battle on. I think the feeling from people who left the meeting was very solid.”

The plans, recommended for approval by officers, include an anaerobic digestion plant, materials recovery facility for mixed, dry recyclable waste, mechanical biological treatment plant and paper pulper.

They have faced major opposition from local residents, Braintree Council, parish councils, the Council for the Protection of Rural Essex and The Ramblers’ Association.

A total of 820 people or organisations submitted their views during consultations.

Concerns over the plant, dubbed an “incinerator” by opponents, include the effect of pollutants emitted, the open countryside not being suitable for such industrial activity and increased traffic on the already heavily congested A120 route.

Mr Abbott said the government office of the eastern region will now be receiving hundreds of petitions from all over the area and a letter was being sent by councillors showing the cross-party feeling in the next few days.