The riddle of missing incinerator planning papers at Meath County Council has been solved.

Plans regarding the controversial facility had been held in around 10 boxes, but late last year the detailed papers apparently disappeared.

An investigation by anti-incinerator campaigner Pat O'Brien lead to the discovery, prompting police to help in the search for the documents.

Mr O'Brien had intended to look at the material in order to establish if the facility, currently under construction at Carrenstown, Duleek had been located in the wrong place.

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Local TD Shane McEntee called for a halt to work at the site "until the matter was cleared up".

Suggestions of a misdemeanor were later dispelled when the papers were found to be in the possession of a council sub-contractor, who had been employed to facilitate in the storage of official documents.

"The Indaver files have been recovered from a firm sub-contracted to provide data back up services. This company had inadvertently stored the files together with records from another planning authority," said council spokesman Bill Sweeney.

"We checked but the company was unable to help us during the original searches. As soon as they identified the mistake they contacted us immediately," he added.

The files contain the original 2004 planning application made by incinerator firm Indaver.

Both the council and Indaver have since denied Mr O'Brien's claims over logistical inaccuracies.

(PR/JM)