More than 4,000 people have written to protest against a licence application to burn rubbish in an incinerator that may be built on the Sussex coast.

Waste contractor Veolia, formerly Onyx, has applied to the Environment Agency for a pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit to burn 210,000 tonnes of rubbish at a proposed incinerator in Newhaven.

The incinerator has not yet been granted planning permission but Veolia has lodged a planning application for a facility on the North Quay at Newhaven.

The burner, which is being called an energy recovery facility because it will generate enough electricity to power more than 16,500 homes, will burn 210,000 tonnes of household waste a year from homes in Brighton and Hove and East Sussex.

It would handle 50 per cent of household waste generated, while the rest would be recycled.

Before the incinerator can operate, it must have a PPC permit from the Environment Agency.

Campaigners took more than 4,000 letters of objection to the agency in Bedford.

Many protesters have also written formal objections to East Sussex County Council in an attempt to block the proposal's passage through the planning process.

They fear the burner will create pollution, generate traffic and damage the environment as well as result in recyclable waste being burned unnecessarily.

Some believe burning household waste fails to encourage more recycling.

The incinerator is being fought by campaign group DOVE, Defend the Ouse Valley and Estuary. Its supporters have lodged objections to the planning application and the application for a permit to burn the waste.

Linda Shepherd, of DOVE, said: "We're pleased with the public response. We are having to attack the incinerator on different fronts."

The DOVE website has illustrations comparing the size of the proposed burner with double-decker buses, claiming the building will be seven buses in height.

Friends of the Earth are also opposed to the incinerator.

They want the planning application to be called in by the secretary of state.

Campaigners received a blow last week when the waste local plan, which includes provision for an incinerator in Newhaven, was formally adopted by the county council and Brighton and Hove City Council.

The decision came after the Deputy Prime Minister ruled there was no reason for the two authorities not to go ahead.

Veolia says the facility will reduce the area's dependence on landfill.