Bosses behind the Lostock Sustainable Energy Plant have pledged to look into transporting more waste by rail rather than on the area's roads.

The  £480m LSEP is currently under construction after being granted planning permission by the Government in 2012. The company has lodged an application to increase waste input to the site from 600,000 to 728,000 tonnes per year.

Once operational, the company said its plant will generate energy from refuse-derived fuel (RDF). RDF is residual waste left over after reusable and recyclable material has been removed. It said the facility will generate enough renewable electricity to power the equivalent of around 125,000 homes per year.

But the scheme has been criticised by councillors and Northwich MP Mike Amesbury, who have raised fears over increased HGV movements in the local area because of the waste having to be transported in by road.

But a spokesman for the company said it would 'welcome' the opportunity to utilise rail as a transport method, but that this would depend on the councils which would be providing the waste.

The spokesman said: “In order to support the proposed increase in waste treated at the site, our application seeks approval to increase HGV movements to and from the site from the consented 131 HGV arrivals (262 round trips) per day, to up to 217 HGV arrivals (434 round trips) per day.

"We are also seeking permission to have more waste delivery hours on weekdays - extending from the currently consented 7am - 7pm, to 7am - 11pm – which will enable us to reduce the impact of the higher number of vehicle movements on the local road network by spreading them over longer delivery hours."

He added: "We would welcome the opportunity to transport waste to LSEP by rail but this also requires local authorities to choose this as a viable, economic and carbon efficient option for collecting and transporting their waste to us. We will continue to investigate the possibilities for waste deliveries via rail.”

Mr Amesbury said this week he has written to new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg urging him to reject the plant's expansion plans.  In his letter he said the additional lorries would create 'extra noise, pollution, wear and tear, disturbance and safety issues impacting roads and residential areas' and said the company should be utilising the existing railhead.