Gloucestershire's waste incinerator has been branded as "a disaster" in an astonishing and stinging statement issued by Stroud District Council.

Deliveries of waste from the five valleys to the Javelin Park giant are set to start today but not before one last show of defiance and disgust from Stroud's elected representatives.

In a fiery statement released this morning Stroud District Council leaders have blasted Gloucestershire County Council.

The statement issued by Stroud District Council leaders Doina Cornell (Labour), Martin Whiteside (Green) and Ken Tucker (Liberal Democrat) pulled no punches.

"The incinerator is a disaster," it said with sledgehammer-like daintiness.

"It is expensive to run, the contract undermines attempts to reduce the amount of waste we produce and recycle and will undermine our commitment to become carbon neutral by 2030 and tackle climate change."

Stroud District Council say they have consistently opposed the county council's plans to incinerate Gloucestershire's waste.

Javelin Park sits on land under Stroud District Council jurisdiction close to junction 12 of the M5 motorway.

Operations at the site which is run by Urbaser Balfour Beatty had been due to start with a series of test burns this week.

However, when the first lorries containing waste arrived at the site on Monday morning they were met with a blockade of protesters from action group Extinction Rebellion.

The protestors demanded to see inside the lorries to check no recyclable material was left inside and sent for incineration.

This was refused and something of a Mexican standoff ensued with neither side willing to budge.

The incinerator is designed to dispose of waste that was otherwise earmarked for landfill only.

All non-recyclable household waste from Stroud and other authority areas in the county will be delivered to Javelin Park from today due to a directive made by Shire Hall.

As the authority with control for waste disposal the county council has the overriding mandate meaning district, city and borough councils have no say on the matter.

The Stroud Councillors' statement added: "Although we have a legal duty to take our household waste to Javelin Park we will do everything we can to ensure that the least amount possible is sent for incineration.

"The public can help by thinking carefully about what they buy, rejecting non-recyclable packaging, and by recycling as much as possible.

"We will do our best to ensure that waste collections take place as normal by working with other districts and our partner Ubico."

Food waste and recyclable waste will continue to be collected and treated separately and will not be sent to the incinerator.

Punchline has approached Gloucestershire County Council for comment.