A giant waste incinerator is a step closer to becoming a reality.

Despite jeers of disgust from protesters, East Sussex county councillors yesterday approved the East Sussex and Brighton and Hove Waste Local Plan - the blueprint for how to deal with waste over the next decade.

The document includes controversial proposals for an incinerator in Newhaven and recycling sites in Maresfield and Hollingdean.

Protesters are threatening to lodge an appeal and will urge Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott to call in the plan for further scrutiny.

As councillors entered County Hall in Lewes, a mock chimney filled the air with clouds of smoke.

Protesters waved placards and chanted "reduce, reuse, recycle," in a bid to persuade councillors to throw out the plan.

One protester was dressed as the Grim Reaper to symbolise the potentially deadly effects of the gases produced by burning rubbish.

The meeting was temporarily brought to a halt when a video link-up broadcasting the proceedings to protesters outside the council chamber broke down.

Norman Franks, from Bexhill, said: "It's a bit of a farce. If the council can't run this sort of show, how can we trust them to run an incinerator? They must have known this would be a busy affair but they've made no provisions and there's been no anticipation of the problems."

The council has received more than 80,000 letters of objection and the plan has already been the subject of a public inquiry.

After the meeting, protesters promised to name and shame councillors who had supported the plan. Thirty voted in favour and 16 against.

Linda Sheppard, of Defenders of the Ouse Valley (Dove), said: "I am just so disgusted and ashamed that the councillors who should be representing local people are choosing to ignore us. They could not care less. It was written all over their faces. Dove intends to name and shame every single councillor who voted today.

"We are not going to give in to this because we know the damage it would do not only to the environment and the economics of the local area but to the children growing up here. The councillors haven't listened to the people."

Nick Hollington, chairman of Bexhill Against Landfill and Incineration (Bali), added: "The next step is to gather information to fight any planning applications.

We will also consider asking the Secretary of State to call in the plan and we are possibly going to seek a legal challenge."

Mavis Baker, from Newhaven, said: "Where I live will be in the direct way of fumes from the incinerator. I may be 80 but I'm prepared to lay down in front of any machinery that comes to build an incinerator. I feel very strongly about this."

Myrtle Foard, also from Newhaven, added: "There should be no incineration in a built-up area. There are plenty of places where it wouldn't have an effect.

I've got grandchildren who live within half a mile of the site. That's who I'm fighting for."

Proposals for an incinerator - or energy recovery facility, as it is called by waste contractors Onyx - still need to be approved by the council's planning committee.

Public consultation began last Friday. If the facility is approved it would take three years to build and would process 210,000 tonnes of waste from east Sussex and Brighton and Hove every year.

A county council spokesman said of the video link failure: "Although we tested our system before the meeting unfortunately the technology let us down on this occasion.

"As soon as the problem came to light we adjourned the meeting.

"We would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused by this problem."