Bradford Council has lodged papers in the High Court calling for a judicial review of the Government’s 11th hour decision to pull the plug on a £300 million waste treatment scheme.

The Council had teamed up with Calderdale Council for the 25-year project, which would have seen a state-of-the-art treatment plant being built in Bowling Back Lane, Bradford, aimed at hugely reducing the need for landfill dumping.

The Government's shock move to withdraw more than £60m of credit was revealed in a letter sent to the councils in February by Lord de Mauley, the Parliamentary Under Secretary at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

A contract with consortium Pennine Resource Recovery was within weeks of being signed and it was hoped work to construct the plant would start in months.

Now both councils have announced they have applied for leave to bring a judicial review of the Defra decision to withdraw the credit.

Bradford Council leader David Green said: “We think Defra’s decision is very detrimental to Bradford and Calderdale, not only to the local economy but also to the environment.

“As well as leaving both councils with the major problem of how to get rid of our waste in the future.”