THE MAN in charge of the controversial Chineham incinerator has accused its opponents of scaremongering - and he has said he is "very proud" of the burner.

John Collis, director of Hampshire Waste Services, spoke out after The Gazette reported last week that the environment Agency had declared an ash-like deposit found on cars parked near the incinerator to be a "non-combustion" material that could not have come from the incinerator.

Some opponents of the plant have expressed doubts about the agency's view that the ash could have been caused by bonfires, burning tyres or construction work.

Basingstoke MP Andrew Hunter also called the findings into question in this week's edition of The Gazette's free sister newspaper, The Basingstoke Extra.

Parish and borough councillor Martin Biermann believes that the area affected by the deposits is too large to have been caused by a bonfire, and Dave Thornton, chairman of Chineham Parish Council, said that it was the first time this had happened since the old incinerator was working.

However, the investigation into the deposits prompted another borough councillor, John Downes, to say: "We have been getting hysterical reports scaring the life out of people, but it has nothing to do with the incinerator."

This view is supported by Mr Collis, who said that he, too, believed there had been "an element of scaremongering" about the issue.

He told The Gazette that when a sample of the material on cars was examined under a microscope, it was 50 times bigger than the deposits recovered from a filter which acts "like a hoover bag" at the incinerator.

He explained: "Anything that would go through the filter would be smaller than what is in there, not larger.

"The council, at this time of year, puts salt and grit on the roads and these deposits could be from that. They could not be from us."

Defending the incinerator, Mr Collis said: "We are very proud of the plant. It is designed to the latest standards and it is achieving those standards.

"It is very carefully monitored by both the Environment Agency and ourselves."

Mr Collis said that the plant has its own environmental monitoring facility that collects meteorological data, and records pollutants such as carbon dioxide. He explained this information will be published on a website in around four months.

Chris Tomblin, of the Basingstoke Burner Action Group, is encouraging residents of Chineham to keep their own logs of information about wind direction and incidents when they can smell burning. This can then be presented to incinerator representatives at a liaison group meeting on April 1.

Mr Tomblin added: "We may have to get our own independent study done if more ash is found."

Mr Collis said that whenever he receives complaints about any aspect of the incinerator, either he or the plant manager ring the person to discuss the issue.

Once final work at the burner site is completed in early May, Mr Collis said he would be happy to show people around.

He said: "We can explain to people how it works and that should allay their fears."