CAMPAIGNERS fear a "green'' rubbish dump could pollute water supplies.

Wingate Against Refuse (WAR) is opposing Premier Waste Management's plans for what it calls an environmentally-friendly 188-acre landfill site at Wingate Grange Farm, near Wingate.

The company, part-owned by Durham County Council, the waste disposal authority for the county, says it will be a modern facility using pioneering digester technology to minimise the dump's impact.

But residents fear it will be a blight on their lives and have begun a campaign against it.

Group spokesman Cliff Walker said they were concerned that pollution from the dump could seep into the East Durham water table, the source of supplies to thousands of homes.

"If that happened it would be a catastrophe. You would then have the problem of finding somewhere to get our water supply.''

Mr Walker said the group also wanted the planning application to be "called in'' by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott because the county council, which normally decides dump plans, has a big stake in the company.

"It can't in any way be democratic for the council to be deciding this application.''

The council's head of planning, John Suckling, said the impact on the water table would be a major factor in the planning application and would be investigated by the Environment Agency to see if there was an immediate or future risk of pollution.

Mr Suckling said the council's stake in the firm would not influence the handling of the application.