A decision on plans for a waste incinerator in County Durham has been delayed for a further two months.
The outcome of a public inquiry into the proposal at Hownsgill Industrial Park, Consett, was due this week following an initial delay.
Durham County Council had refused permission for the energy-from-waste facility at the former steelworks site, but developer Project Genesis appealed.
The decision is now due by 26 June.
The proposed Hownsgill Energy Centre, with a 160ft-high (50m) chimney stack, would process up to 60,000 tonnes of commercial and industrial waste per year.
Campaigners opposed to the scheme fear it would be a danger to health and 3,500 objections were sent to Durham County Council.
The authority said the facility would cause cumulative harm and worsen views of a ‘predominantly rural and attractive landscape’.
At the inquiry it said the plans would significantly affect the landscape with ‘three unusually tall structures of industrial character’ which would be ‘visually dominant’.
Project Genesis says the incinerator will generate heat and electricity with discounts for people in the area.
Consett North councillor Alex Watson, who supports the plans, says there would be no toxic emissions, smells or noise and the council only turned it down because of the chimney.
He said recently: ‘It's crazy, I've never been happy that it was refused in the first place.’
