SIR – It is claimed that the £120 million Worcestershire incinerator could in fact cost £1 billion (Worcester News , August 22).

This could be a very conservative estimate as £120 million would only be the capital costs and this could be 50 per cent higher.

It does not take into account interest rates, exchange rates and maintenance costs of this private finance initiative (PFI), which could be multiplied by seven to 10 times, easily taking it over £1 billion.

All incinerator costs will be met by the taxpayers of Herefordshire and Worcestershire at a time when cuts to public services will be in excess of £100 million in both counties.

There should be a full financial investigation into the waste contract and proposed incinerator soon.

I call on all taxpayers and all political parties to support this, if they care how our money is spent, and thank those already supporting us from the Green Party, UKIP and Labour who are taking time to look at the facts.

There is an over-capacity of incinerator space in the West Midlands. The incinerator is not needed in either county.

The landfill argument is a red herring as there are better and cheaper ways to divert waste from landfill and to create energy.

Increasing recycling is a good start.

Both county councils have a collective responsibility to protect the public purse and carry out due diligence. Are they aware of this because it doesn’t look like it?

L BROOKES

Hartlebury