A High Court judge has refused campaigners permission to appeal her decision on the Beddington Lane incinerator.

Frances Patterson said Shasha Khan's bid to block Viridor's plans to build the incinerator, controversially approved by Sutton Council, "had no realistic prospect of success".

Mrs Justice Patterson earlier this month rejected the Green Party member's claims, made at a judicial review at the Royal Courts of Justice, that the council been influenced in its decision-making by a contract signed with Viridor two years earlier when it granted planning permission. 

Mr Khan now plans to take the case to the Court of Appeal and has set a £15,000 fundraising target for his legal battle's next stage.

He said: "As is normal, the High Court judge has refused permission and effectively left the issue to the Court of Appeal to decide. 

"We are undeterred and have the support of our legal team to file our request for permission to appeal in the Court of Appeal. 

"The only obstacle is finance and we are encouraged by the massive local support for our fundraising campaign."

Mr Khan, alongside other Stop the Incinerator campaigners, also argues Sutton Council misinterpreted the South London Waste Plan and went against its own planning policy to approve the incinerator, which will burn up to 275,000 tonnes of waste a year taken from Sutton, Croydon, Merton and Kingston councils.