Why did the recycling centre cross the road? To make way for a new power station.

Norfolk County Council has applied to itself to build a new household waste centre in King's Lynn, in a move that would allow a power station to be built on land once earmarked for an incinerator.

The plans would see the household waste of the area dealt with on land north of Willow Road - rather than its current location south of this same road.

In July, the county council agreed the proposed incinerator site was now surplus to its waste strategy, freeing it up to be leased to EP UK Power Development (EPUKPD Ltd) for a planned power station.

However, to allow for the power station plans to proceed, it was revealed King's Lynn's household waste recycling centre would have to be on the move.

Now, County Hall has applied to itself to build the new centre, which will be situated on a half-hectare mere metres away from the existing site.

A design and access statement for the plan says: 'The replacement HWRC is required in order to facilitate proposals for the construction and operation of a new gas-fired power station on land at the Willows.

'The proposed development would need to be fully operational before the existing HWRC is closed in order to ensure continuity of service to members of the public.'

The application goes on to state that the full costs of the move - including the demolition of the existing site and construction of the new one - would be covered by EPUKPD Ltd.

The statement adds that the plans would only go ahead if EPUKPD opts to proceed with the power station project, which the county council says is dependent on central government's electricity capacity market auction in early 2019.

Meanwhile, Norfolk Police has raised concerns around the plans, due to the proposed recycling centre's proximity to its investigation centre (PIC).

The constabulary has requested any CCTV cameras on site point away from the PIC, to protect the identities of officers and anybody being detained at the centre.