Council bosses are 'very disappointed' in a delay in building a generator to burn gas at Welbeck Landfill Site, first planned for 2003, which would power 8,000 homes.

A cut of profits from the plant would help the council reduce costs of providing services in the city, including waste disposal.

But instead, the natural gas from thousands of tonnes of household waste at the Altofts tip is being 'flared off' into the atmosphere.

David Sharples, Wakefield Council's Welbeck project manager, said: "The council has been pressing the site operators to progress the landfill gas utilisation scheme for a number of years and is very disappointed at the delays."

Wakefield Council would take a cut of the profits from tip operator Welbeck Waste Management Ltd (WWML) under a profit-sharing arrangement in the site lease.

The lease details were released to the public recently, along with the council's waste contract with WWML, after a Freedom of Information request was made by action group Residents Against Toxic Scheme (RATS).

RATS president Paul Dainton said he now felt 'vindicated', after an eight-year battle to obtain the documents, which were deemed commercially-sensitive by the council.

He was also served with a court injunction in 1999 by WWML to stop him publishing sensitive information about the tip.

He said: "This gas could have been collected and given to every pensioner in Wakefield for free. But instead, it has been allowed to flow freely into the atmosphere or, at best, burned off with no benefit to man or beast, just simply to add to global warming."

The Environment Agency, which monitors the Welbeck site, said the gas plant was expected to be in place in April 2009 after a public consultation.