Waste incinerators are three times more likely to be built in poorer areas than in the UK’s richest areas, an investigation has revealed.

Unearthed found waste incinerators are being disproportionately built in low-income areas and neighbourhoods with high populations of people of colour.

The research discovered nearly half of new incinerators are on track to be built in the UK’s top 25% most deprived neighbourhoods, with more than two thirds planned for the northern half of the country.

More than 40% of all existing incinerators are sited in areas more diverse than their local authority average.

A spokesperson from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told Unearthed: ‘Local councils are responsible for planning how waste is managed in their areas, including determining planning applications for new energy–from–waste plants.