A site at Monksbridge Road on the outskirts of the town, is just one on a hit-list of 35 sites where the plant could go.

But Dinnington Town Council said this week they were in the dark and knew nothing about the proposals until approached by the Guardian but some residents in the know are outraged and already starting a campaign to keep the facility out of the region.

Pauline Davies, chairman of the town council said they will now place the discussion high on the agenda of their next meeting.

"I think the people over in Laughton could be the most affected. We don't know much about it at the moment though. It seems everyone's found out before us."

Shocked residents have also spoken out about proposals which they fear could be 'slipped in' by Rotherham Council.

Noel Wade, of Church Lane, said he is strongly opposed to the scheme which he described as a 'dash to burn Rotherham's waste mountain'.

"They will face serious local opposition if this comes to planning," he said. "I would much rather they promote a whole scale recycling scheme."

"I am very concerned with the council's apparent dash to burn as a quick fix for managing the growing amounts of general and commercial waste. The council needs to focus on more effective recycling schemes instead of building incinerators with their very dubious benefits to anyone other than the private profiteers who operate them."

Mr Wade added: "The smoke and ash from a Dinnington incinerator will pollute the air over Todwick, Anston, Dinnington, Laughton Common and further afield."

Mr Wade said he is urging residents to let the council know their views before the scheme is 'railroaded'.

Roy Newman, of Falcon Way, has said he is prepared to fight against the proposals should they go to the planning board.

"We're going to fight - we don't want it. There will be a cloud over the area," he said.

"It will be all the waste from Rotherham. We're talking about thousands of tonnes a week. It's not just a couple of lorries on the roads- it will be choc-a-block."

"As soon as the planning application goes on we want to get ourselves motivated and sort ourselves out."

"We're trying to identify where on Monksbridge Road the site will be."

"My concern is to make the public aware that this has suddenly slipped in. I don't want the people of Dinnington and Anston and the surrounding area having to put up with this." He said if a site is proposed for Dinnington it has to be away from habitated areas. "I don't want the public to sleep walk into this," he added.

The Dinnington site has been flagged up in a list of 35 possible locations in Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley, after the three councils joined forces to look at how to deal with the thousands of tonnes they send to landfill every year.

The partnership has received £77.4million from the Government's Private Finance Initiative (PFI), following an outline application submitted in 2007, which will fund the development of waste treatment facilities in the region.

Spokesman for the BDR partnership, Coun Richard Russell of Rotherham Council, said: "This will assist us to finance a form of treatment which will look to further increase our recycling rates and then cleanly and efficiently treat waste throughout the region that cannot currently be economically recycled."