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Calls for a public inquiry into plans to expand Eastcroft incinerator have been rejected by Nottingham City Council.

A planning application for the £50m expansion is due to be considered in September.

It has been delayed repeatedly but operators the Waste Recycling Group (WRG) want to increase rubbish burned there each year from 150,000 tonnes to 250,000 tonnes.

Councillors in all parties are concerned about the number of lorries that will travel back and forward to the site each day - up to 100 - and most believe recycling, not incineration, is the best way forward.

Opposition Liberal Democrats and Conservatives tried to force the issue at a full meeting of the council last night.

They argued the issues involved were too wide-ranging to be left to the development control committee, since they include the council's recycling policy and health of the population, as well as traditional planning issues.

The groups put forward two motions calling for a public inquiry or an outright rejection of the expansion plan.

But the debate, which lasted more than three hours, was hampered by complex legal concerns.

The ruling Labour group, which also opposes the expansion, was concerned that agreeing to either of the motions now would allow WRG to claim its application had not been given a fair hearing.

Labour councillors said the council could end up incurring large legal costs and still not stop expansion.

Council leader Coun Jon Collins said advice from lawyers and independent consultants warned that if last night's meeting rejected the planning application, it could trigger a legal dispute. Labour put the cost of such a dispute at up to £250,000.

Coun Collins told the meeting: "We have a clear choice between barrack room lawyers or proper legal advice. This is about mischief-making and playing politics."

Alison Morton, a spokesman for campaign group Nottingham Against Incineration and Landfill (NAIL), which lobbied yesterday's meeting, said: "I am not interested in the political point-scoring. I want the application turned down. It seems the right way for this to happen is at the development control committee, rather than the council making a decision now that prejudices that process."