Liberal Democrat campaigners, led by Cllr Richard Wilson, centre, and Lynne Featherstone MP, left, protest at the Pinkham Way site.

A two-week public inquiry set to consider plans for a controversial waste processing plant in Pinkham Way, Muswell Hill, was suspended after just two hours.

The examination in public of the North London Waste Plan (NLWP), held at Camden Town Hall, was adjourned by the planning inspector on Tuesday, after he was handed legal submissions from council authorities outside of London which opposed the NLWP.

Archie Onslow, programme manager of the NLWP, told the Journal: “The inspector heard some legal submissions and said he would go away and think about them.

“They were complaints from counties outside London where north London sends its landfill to.”

Mr Onslow said the inspector would take two weeks to decide whether the inquiry could resume in light of the concerns raised, adding: “He may restart in September so we are hoping he will decide that the hearings will restart.”

The NLWP sets out how the seven north London boroughs –Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, Hackney, Islington and Waltham Forest – will establish common waste planning policies to help them determine waste planning applications.

It also assesses the amount of additional land that needs to be allocated to manage waste for the next 15 years, up to 2027.

The Pinkham Way plant is designed to process non-recyclable refuse from the seven boroughs of the North London waste authority, but has met with fierce opposition from local people following concerns about harmful toxins, increased traffic levels and the impact on the local environment.