CONSTRUCTION work on a new waste incinerator in Ardley will start by the end of the year, council papers have confirmed.

Following the collapse of campaigners’ final legal challenge against the controversial plant in November last year, preparatory works have started on site ahead of the three-year building project.

Oxfordshire County Council said that the plant, which is set to prevent 95 per cent of the county’s waste being sent to landfill sites, will open in late 2014 or early 2015.

The council is now preparing to award a contract for a haulage company to transport waste to the site from South Oxfordshire, Vale of White Horse and West Oxfordshire districts when it opens.