Rubbish could be taken by lorry to landfill sites hundreds of miles away if a multi-million-pound waste burner is not built.

East Sussex County Council and Brighton and Hove City Council are secretly examining plans to dump rubbish 225 miles away in Stoke-on-Trent.

The proposal would only be introduced if a £1 billion waste disposal contract to cut landfill and boost recycling, which was signed in March, encounters difficulties.

Confidential documents describing the background of the controversial 25-year deal reveal it will only succeed if an incinerator is built at North Quay, Newhaven. But the councils have yet to purchase the North Quay site.

Onyx Aurora still has to apply for planning permission for the burner, which is almost certain to spark an inquiry the councils believe would cost more than £750,000.

Lewes MP Norman Baker said it was absurd the two councils had even considered trucking waste hundreds of miles.

He said: "This is a bombshell, it shows the plans are in an unfit state. Council tax payers in East Sussex are getting a very bad deal both environmentally and financially.

"It is a very bad deal which holds people to ransom for 25 years. Long after this clapped-out Tory county council goes, we will be paying the bill."

The documents reveal the private finance initiative contract could lead to higher council tax bills.

Consultants called in by the two councils to advise where excess rubbish could be dumped recommended Stoke-on-Trent, Bedford or Ipswich.

Both authorities might have to pay back Government money if the incinerator part of the deal fails and pay penalty fines if recycling targets are not achieved.

The county council said it had to dispose of waste and trucking rubbish to other areas would only happen if the incinerator was not built.

A spokeswoman said transporting waste was an option the councils considered when assessing the contract's value for money and the alternatives to the deal.

She said it was normal for councils to pay for planning inquiries, and the two authorities had negotiated concessions from Onyx Aurora to meet part of the costs.

Landfill space in East Sussex is expected to run out by 2007. The incinerator proposed at Newhaven would not start operating until 2009 at the earliest.

Onyx Aurora proposes a smaller plant using different technology at Pebsham, Bexhill, as well as a series of recycling centres an industrial scale composting plant at Golden Cross, near Hailsham.

Between 33 per cent and 35 per cent of household rubbish is expected to be recycled.