AFTER Devon County Council's decision to build a 'waste to energy' incinerator in Exeter, a parish councillor and environmental campaigner has said Kingsteignton could be next in line.

On Tuesday, the county council announced plans for a £32.5 million incinerator to help divert up to 60,000 tonnes of waste each year from landfill.

But if the county is to meet tough new targets and avoid hefty fines of £150 for each tonne of waste that is buried then at least one more incinerator is likely to be required. Potential sites include Heathfield, Kingsteignton, where existing waste disposal facilities meet the county's criteria by being sited close to a large and growing population. Cllr Ken Tuckett, one of the founder members of action group Kingsteignton Residents Environmental Awareness Group (KREAG), last month won a seat on the parish council on the strength of his anti-development ticket.

Now he has said that it is probably only a matter of time before the village gets one of the new breed of 'virtually clean' incinerators, said to produce enough power for up to 8,000 homes but discharging few emissions. 'The Heathfield site will certainly continue being used for waste disposal over the next few years, but beyond that we'll just have to wait and see what is proposed,' said Cllr Tuckett.

'Another possible site at Heathfield, Bovey Tracey, has now been ruled out because the landowner there now wants to develop homes. With the Local Development Framework waste plan now progressing, incineration could well be one of the adopted strategies.

'As far as Kingsteignton is concerned I think it is likely we will end up as one of the sites.' Cllr Margaret Rogers, the county council's executive member for the environment, said the county's growing population meant that even if recycling rates hit 60 per cent, by 2020 there would still be 40,000 tonnes of waste to process annually.

She said: 'It is therefore likely that at some stage another plant will be required to deal with the remaining amount, although no decisions have been made as regards this possibility in terms of its actual need, location or type of technology.' The county council hopes to have its new Exeter plant operational by spring 2010.