Cory Environmental are hoping to build the Mechanical Biological Treatment Centre alongside the landfill site at the former Lyme and Wood pit site off Vista Road, Haydock.

But neighbours at housing estates in Newton-le-Willows and Haydock have raised concerns about potential pollution issues and have organised a public meeting.

Cory, meanwhile, plan to submit a planning application to St Helens Council for the plant which recycles kitchen and residual waste into compost during the autumn.

They say the site would help reduce the amount of biodegradable waste going into landfill - and help the local authority hit government targets on recycling.

Jenny Doyle, a development surveyor, insisted there is "no incinerator" involved in the process, which is carried out inside a plant, and would not create unpleasant smells for neighbouring communities.

However, St Helens North MP Dave Watts fears such a development would be going back on proposals to create a local park for the community once the pit's term as a landfill site had been completed.

He said neighbours living nearby the current tip have had to live with noise, dirt, smells and flies.

And he added: "The local residents have a right to expect that once the site is completed it will be cleaned up and developed as a community facility. All recycling plants should be located away from residential areas and waste authorities and the council should now identify suitable alternative sites."

Cory, though, say they are already working on creating a community parkland at the site, having planted 50,000 trees and they said the current landfill site would be converted to open space once its term as a tip runs out in 2009.

Residents, meanwhile, are invited to attend a meeting on Monday, September 11 starting at 6pm at Haydock Methodist Church, when the recycling plant will be discussed