BREAKING NEWS: Incinerator thrown out by council planners

Plans for a giant waste incinerator on the edge of Gloucester have been unanimously thrown out by councillors tonight.

In a shock move by county council planners, the controversial proposal to build a £500 million waste disposal plant near Junction 12 of the M5 in Haresfield did not receive the seal of approval so desperately hoped for by the Tory-led administration at Shire Hall, who last year signed a multi-million pound contract with Urbaser Balfour Beatty to build and operate the energy-from-waste facility at the Javelin Park site.

The decision came at the end of a marathon 11-hour planning meeting at Kingsholm Stadium in Gloucester, during which councillors heard all the arguments for and against the mammoth incinerator.

After retiring to consider their final decision, all 18 councillors returned a vote in favour of rejecting the waste disposal facility, citing five reasons which focused heavily on the visual impact of the structure on the surrounding Severn Vale landscape.

* Citizen reporter Mike Wilkinson brought live updates throughout the day here and through his Twitter feed, where you can find videos of all the reaction from the night's dramatic turn of events.