A global campaign group has thrown its weight behind the Echo's Don't Dump on Basildon campaign.

Friends of the Earth also accused county council bosses of misleading the public and denies ever supporting a huge waste plant.

The council claimed in flyers about the mechanical biological treatment and anaerobic digester complex that Friends of the Earth supports the waste disposal technique.

But FoE spokesman Garrett Reynolds said: "We give full and unequivocal backing to the campaign.

"Any suggestion that we endorse the council's plan for this monster plant is utter nonsense and misleading in the extreme."

The plant would deal with 700,000 tonnes of rubbish each year and create 400 extra lorry journeys a day.

Peter Martin, the county council cabinet member for waste, has been accused of implying the organisation was in favour of the Courtauld Road plan in an article he wrote for the Echo.

Anna Watson, a waste campaigner at Friends of the Earth, later wrote to county councillors saying his statement and the flyers have misled the public, saying: "Some Essex councillors and officers have been misinforming the public by suggesting that Friends of the Earth supports their plans.

"However, this is misleading in the extreme.

"Coun Peter Martin has written in the Echo about the Basildon Courtauld Road plants, saying we support anaerobic digestion and by implication the Basildon plant."

The county council denies misleading residents and says the comments were lifted from Friends of the Earth publications.

Coun Martin said: "In referring to the published Friends of the Earth information, we wanted residents to see what was being said nationally about the type of technology we are looking to use.

"It was not a misrepresentation of the literature produced and it is available for anyone who is interested to see on their website."