AN official investigation has been launched into the leaking of a confidential Worcestershire County Council report on plans to site an incinerator in Kidderminster - and the police could be involved.

The publication of the contents of a report to the county's cabinet which met on Tuesday have been referred by the chief executive to the council's ethics and standards monitoring officer.

And planning committee member Councillor Stephen Clee said court action could also be on the cards after a newspaper reported the leaked document revealed the county council is considering underwriting the £1.2 million cost of buying the Stourport Road site earmarked for the burner.

SKI (Stop Kidderminster incinerator) spokeswoman Clare Cassidy said the leak could only boost heavy public opposition to the incinerator. The county council's planning committee rejected the application 11-2 at a meeting in April but Severn Waste Services has appealed. A public inquiry is scheduled to get under way at Kidderminster Town Hall on February 19 and is expected to last for five or six weeks.

Dr Richard Taylor, MP for Wyre Forest, said he had spoken to the county council's chief executive about the report but was not prepared to discuss it as it was a confidential document.

But he said the chief executive had stressed the authority had to wear "two hats", being both the waste management authority and the planning authority.

Dr Taylor said he had been assured the council was being "scrupulously fair" and was getting as much flak from Severn Waste, because the company believed the authority was being too fair to objectors.

It is alleged bankers for contractor Mercia Waste, sister company of Severn Waste which would operate the site, have refused to advance cash to buy it until the result of the planning inquiry is known.

According to reports, Mercia Waste's option to buy expires on December 26 and British Sugar has no plans to renew the option. The county council has been asked to guarantee the purchase of the site.