A tireless environmental campaigner who has led the charge to fight an incinerator from being built on the borders of the borough has been put forward as a Croydon Champion.

Shasha Khan, an active member of the Green Party, has gone to extraordinary lengths to fight the green cause, including handcuffing himself to the railings outside Croydon town hall in 2011 to protest against the proposed Beddington Lane incinerator.

The plan would see the existing landfill site used to create the facility, as well as land which was earmarked for London’s newest country park.

Mr Khan continues to fight the cause and has been granted permission at the High Court for a judicial review of the plans to build a waste incinerator in Beddington.

He will argue Sutton Council was influenced by its contract with waste disposal firm Viridor, developers of the incinerator, and applied incorrect planning policy.

Mr Khan, who is liable for costs of £35,000 if the legal bid fails, is concerned about the air quality threat the incinerator poses. He fears for the health of his two-year-old daughter as well as other children downwind from the incinerator and stresses the importance of air cleanliness during the first 12 months of life.

He said: “I just want to be able to take my daughter to the park, so she can be brought up in and educated in a healthy environment.”

Mr Khan also is a trustee of Bensham Manor Community Association, in which he supported the opening of Queens Community Hall.

He is also a member of Friends of Thornton Heath recreation ground. David Petro nominated Mr Khan for the community champion award due to his community centred approach to the campaign and the personal financial strain the campaign will cause him.

He said: “He deserves recognition for his bravery in putting himself in the firing line to protect the health of the people of Croydon. “He is a true man of the people; putting himself second to the community he has always served.”