Nick Brown, the agriculture minister, has demanded assurances from the environment agency, Newcastle upon Tyne council and the local health authority that the Byker waste plant poses no public health risk.
His intervention yesterday came after Newcastle council ordered the removal of 2,000 tonnes of poisoned ash, which has been found to have high levels of mercury, cadmium and lead, from footpaths and allotments. It ruled that no children under the age of two should play in the 27 affected allotments.
The waste plant is already the centre of controversy as its operator wants to double its capacity. The plan includes burning tyres which are known to include heavy pollutants.
Mr Brown wrote to all three authorities saying: "Can I have your view as to whether the operations carried out at the plant pose a real threat to human health?"
His intervention comes as the government delayed publishing its national waste strategy after Downing Street intervened in the controversy over landfill tax scams revealed by the Guardian and Channel 4's Dispatches.
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