Tory plans to spend £1 million on a waste plant in Sompting have been labelled 'absurd'.

West Sussex County Council Lib Dem leader Nick Rodgers said plans to spend almost £1 million on the doomed Halewick Lane waste transfer station at Sompting should be scrapped.

Tory councillors should spend the money instead on recycling schemes, improving social services and public transport, Coun Rodgers said.

Last year the county council lost a public inquiry when it tried to win planning permission to keep the plant open permanently, even though it is inside an area of outstanding natural beauty.

The council is now trying to find a long-term alternative and Councillor Rodgers said it was time to pull the plug on further investment at Halewick Lane.

He said: "To spend £1 million on a site destined for closure sooner or later is absurd.

"We want the money switched to other services, including recycling garden and green waste through a county-wide composting scheme that will be of enormous benefit to residents now and in the future."

The Lib Dems said they would not try to alter a proposed 9.7 per cent increase in council tax, which will be put to the full council on Thursday.

Coun Rodgers said his party wanted £2 million taken from a capital projects budget and spent on social services and public transport.