Tyneside North member Stephen Byers submitted his objections in a letter to North Tyneside Council's planning committee, which is due to consider the application at a single issue planning meeting on August 14.

In his letter, Mr Byers said that the application would be detrimental to local residents, the green belt and local wildlife, and called it an "environmental eyesore".

The application by SITA UK is to extend landfill operations at Seghill to 2021 and bring an additional 4.3m tonnes of waste onto the site.

Backworth ward councillors Brian Burdis and Carole Gambling have also expressed their concerns about the plans.

"The proposals within the application will degrade the countryside and landscape of North Tyneside," they said in a joint letter.

"To allow the destruction of the landscape and its ecology and permit the pollution of the environment would be a travesty for North Tyneside and its residents."

The application was voted through by Conservative and Independent councillors on Northumberland County Council last month.

Residents and campaigners reacted with anger to that planning committee's decision and have vowed to lobby North Tyneside planners.

Planning officers at the borough authority have also recommended that North Tyneside councillors approve the application.

Chairman of the No to Landfill campaign group, Lindsay Perks, said that Mr Byers' objections would make a difference and North Tyneside councillors are likely to listen to residents.

"What people have to remember is that this is a commercial organisation seeking to benefit from the extension of the site.

"You could argue they've been exploiting the people next to this for the last 50 years - that's objectionable in itself.

"I have respect for Stephen's views - he rarely says anything without proper consideration, so his objection should carry weight.

"We're more optimisitic because councillors on North Tyneside are probably more aware of what the implications of living next to a landfill are.

"The people who voted in favour of it in Northumberland were from places like Prudhoe, Longhorsley and Alnwick, which is some distance from the landfill."

Whatever decision is made by North Tyneside councillors, the application cannot proceed any further due to an Article 14 direction being placed on both North Tyneside and Northumberland County Council.

This will give Government Office North East time to consider a request by Blyth Valley Council to "call in" the application for a public inquiry.

SITA UK has said that the Seghill site is well managed and meets standards set out by the Environment Agency.