THE amount of poisonous chemicals emitted from an incinerator in the region has been highlighted in a Greenpeace report.

Campaigners say that the Sita incinerator at Billingham, Teesside, has breached the terms of its licence - to ensure it complies with legal emission limits - 11 times during 1999 and last year.

Yesterday, protestors occupied an incinerator in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, which they claim is the worst in the country for breaching pollution laws - said to number 178 instances in the past three years.

Blake Lee-Harwood, head of the pressure group's toxics campaign, said: "There could be up to 100 new incinerators built in this country over the next few years.

"We have to make this stand or the country is going to become completely covered with them."

Incinerators burn tons of waste a year, emitting gases, chemicals and heavy metals into the atmosphere - which can cause cancer and birth defects.

The report says: "Incinerators do not destroy waste but convert it into other forms - gases, ash and dust particles.

"Incineration is an unreliable and dangerous technology. The current regulatory regime is weak and needs to be overhauled."

Residents in Billingham have joined forces with campaigners from Billingham Red Alert over a proposed expansion at the site. They want assurances that present processes at the incinerator meet the EC directive, which requests proper safety levels.

Malcolm Diegan, from Red Alert, said the greatest threat of pollution comes from household refuse. He said: "The problem with household refuse is that no one can possibly have any proper control over what is being destroyed. The risk is of producing dioxins, which would then be free in the atmosphere, with the result the public may be at risk literally at the whim of a wind."

A spokeswoman from Sita said: "We would be more than happy to talk to anyone with any concerns."