Communities minister, Eric Pickles, has told Nottinghamshire County Council not to approve a new Energy Centre in Bilsthorpe while he considers calling in the application.

The council was set to grant the scheme planning permission but has been informed Pickles will be scrutinising the proposal first.

Council planning chair, cllr John Wilkinson, said: 'For large planning applications with significant public interest, it's not unusual for the minister to scrutinise a planning committee's decision and I welcome his decision to take a look at it.

'I know I speak for the whole planning committee when I say that the decision to grant consent, in the face of a lot of concern from the local community, was an extremely difficult one.'

It is hoped the new centre would address the 194,000 tonne shortfall in residual waste disposal capacity in Nottinghamshire by recovering energy from rubbish. It would also create permanent jobs and a further 300 during building works.