Government bosses claim the amount of pollutants coming out of the proposed Rivenhall incinerator will be so small that it will be "insignificant" to residents.

Members of the public were invited to meet with Environment Agency officers during a drop-in session at Rivenhall Village Hall to discuss plans to issue an environmental permit for Gent Fairhead and Indaver’s waste disposal facility at the nearby airfield.

The firms appear set to get approval to build the incinerator along with a 35m chimney stack after the Environment Agency issued a draft permit for the scheme last week.

A four-week public consultation has been launched and responses will be considered before a final decision on the permit is issued.

More than 100 residents attended Friday’s drop-in session where they were able to discuss their concerns over the incinerator.

Despite obvious opposition among those attending, the Environment Agency’s Frank Saunders informed the Times the changes made by Gent Fairhead and Indaver meant the proposals were in line with incinerator standards.

He also rubbished fears about the impact the incinerator would have on the environment.

He said: “In a nutshell, what the developer has put to us is a change of design with a lower chimney.

“We have looked at that as a complete package. It’s not just the lower chimney stack that needs to be considered, it’s also the cleaning technology which we now believe is more rigorous.

“What will come out of that stack in terms of what is permitted at the moment, will actually be less pollutants.

“A way of looking at it is there is less pollutants to disperse so we can except a lower stack.

“Modelling has shown with the more stringent cleaning techniques and stringent limits, the impacts on the local environment and people is insignificant.”

Indaver has an environmental permit for an incinerator with a 58m chimney at Rivenhall Airfield but has failed to get planning permission for the larger stack.

It is aiming to change the conditions of the permit to align with the planning permission it does have for a 35m chimney.

The firm is said to have reduced its expected daily emission limits when it comes to sulphur dioxide and oxides from nitrogen.

The changes have done little to address the concerns of the public, with many of those attending Friday’s drop-in reaffirming their fears about increased pollution.

Tom Parkes from Coggeshall said: “It seems a bit mental to be incinerating more rubbish and causing more pollution.

“London was ground to a halt in the summer with climate protestors so there is a lot of public concern out there.

“This will make the climate issue worse.

“I gather its already a done deal but hopefully they will see how many people are against it.”

Another resident from Silver End added: “I don’t like it. I’m rather cynical with regards to how the plans have changed.

“I’m sceptical with the way everything will work. We have seen that company’s that have to police themselves, don’t do it.

“Why will this be any different?”

The Environment Agency rejected concerns about how the incinerator will be monitored and says it will “continually” assess all operating data produced by Indaver.

Mr Saunders said: “The operator has to monitor its work 24/7 and we will audit the stats given to us.

“It’s a valid question when people ask how can we trust their data?

“We carry out our own audits on their techniques and their methodology. They have to meet our standards for how they monitor their work.

“Periodically we will check how that data is being collected and it’s an important aspect because we have to be able to trust them.”