NEW Forest District Council is to fight tooth and nail to stop more than two million tonnes of London's waste being transported to landfill sites in the area during the next 20 years.

Council leader Cllr Mel Kendal and environment portfolio-holder Cllr Michael Thierry will speak against the the proposal, contained in the draft South East Regional Plan, at Monday's cabinet meeting at Lyndhurst.

Cllr Kendal, also a county councillor, described it as "horrific news".

He said the county had been working hard to red-uce waste sent to landfill sites, and accepting Lon-don's rubbish would set even more lorries rum-bling through the forest.

Ringwood's Cllr Thierry said: "I am horrified by the suggestion that London's waste will ultimately find its way to Hampshire, but specifically to the New Forest.

"With Project Integra we have infrastructure which is absolutely first class and the impact of London's waste will be significant.

"We have an incinerator at Marchwood and at Som-erley, Ringwood in partic-ular, landfill. Much of this material will ultimately find its way there.

"Of much greater concern up the A338 in the Avon Valley, you have mineral extraction and there would be pressure and perhaps the suggestion that mineral extraction would be used for landfill, and the impact of that would be dramatic so New Forest District Council will do all it can to reject the proposal."

The landfill site at Efford, near Lymington, is privately run and dumping there is coming to an end, he said.

Logistically, he can see the attraction of using Somerley tip. It is at the end of a traffic signal-free run down the M3, M27 and A31.

The 2.2 million tonnes will constitute eight per cent of the capital's waste being brought to Hampshire.

County deputy leader Cllr Mike Woodhall described it as "a bleak prospect for Hampshire", and environ-ment councillor Jonathan Glen said "the equivalent of one whole landfill site" would be required.

"We don't have landfill sites to take it. If we were forced to do this we would have to start finding mineral extraction sites to use. We are going to fight it all the way to prevent it happening."

A South East England Regional Assembly spokes-man said Hampshire takes 42,000 tonnes of waste from London annually. This would rise to 140,000 tonnes a year for 10 years and then tail off.