A bid to appeal a High Court decision over the awarding of the contract for the Javelin Park waste incinerator has been rejected by the Court of Appeal.

Environmental group Community R4C lost the legal challenge against Gloucestershire County Council in July to build the facility at Junction 12 of the M5 near Gloucester.

The contract was awarded to Urbaser Balfour Beatty but Community R4C said it had been working on a proposal for cheaper, greener processing plant while the council argued it undertook a legal tender process.

The Court of Appeal ruled the "evidence was overwhelming" that Community R4C would not have been able to bid for the contract to manage the county's waste and there was no realistic prospect they could persuade the appeal court to reach a different conclusion.

The council was awarded its costs of defending the High Court claim.

Councillor Nigel Moor, cabinet member for the environment, said: "I'm really pleased the Court of Appeal has issued such a robust reasoning in its dismissal of this case. The comments reflect the position the council has held all along in relation to this fanciful case.

"Javelin Park disposes of the waste Gloucestershire can't recycle cleanly and safely, while cutting our carbon emissions significantly.

"Taxpayers have been put to significant cost by this challenge - and we will take steps to recover as much of that as possible."