Protesters opposed to a landfill site face a hefty legal bill in their attempts to secure a judicial review against the decision.

Denholme Residents Action Group (DRAG) has already spent about £12,000 fighting the application by Integrated Waste Management Limited, and lost the latest round of its battle in a planning inquiry last month.

But tonight the group will hold a public meeting to gauge public support for moves to take the dispute over Buck Park Quarry in Denholme to judicial review.

Dominic Clark, chairman of DRAG, said: "We believe the inspector's decision was flawed on two counts, firstly the visibility factor and secondly the issue of noise.

"We will put our recommendations to the village at the public meeting. We will be calling on support from the village and also their continued financial help."

David Senior, Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for the Shipley seat, is to reveal the results of legal advice at the meeting, held in the Mechanics Institute, Denholme.

He said: "Proceedings for judicial review must be initiated within six weeks of the inspector's decision so time is tight, particularly since the residents in whose name the application is lodged will need legal aid.

"I am sensitive to the fact that local people have had their hopes raised and dashed several times, but sense that they want us to continue the fight and expect us rigorously to examine all legal options."

To secure the review, the campaigners will have to prove they have legal grounds to doubt the Government inspector's decision.

Mr Senior added: "There appear to be legal shortcomings in the report, for example the inspector failed to add in background noise from the current quarrying operations when dismissing our argument that the landfill would push total noise levels at neighbouring properties above levels set in planning guidelines."

Shipley MP Chris Leslie said: "Instinctively my support is with the residents' action group, but my understanding of the law is that if you are going to have a judicial review you have to challenge the processes and procedures followed by the inspector at appeal.

"I'm not sure there were sufficiently untoward practices by the inspector at appeal to call for a fresh inquiry.

"I feel it would be better to focus on the Environment Agency, which still has to grant the licence to operate the site and persuade them not to do this."

March's decision overturned the original Bradford Council decision not to grant the landfill permission.