Protesters in eastern China have succeeded in closing down a local government project to build a huge waste incinerator that residents fear will be harmful to their health and add to pollution.

Choking smog blankets many Chinese cities and the environmental degradation resulting from the country's breakneck economic growth and corruption among communist party officials is angering many Chinese.

The protests which had lasted more than two weeks, turned violent when hundreds of police tried to disperse the protesters in Yuhang, close to the tourist city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province.

"There have certainly been injuries," one protester, Wu Yunfeng, told Reuters by telephone. "The police have closed down the roads into Yuhang and locked the site down." Another protester, who declined to give her name, said several police cars had been overturned.

Photos on China's Weibo site showed police fighting with protesters and at least two protesters with blood streaming down their faces. Another photo showed several hundred people surrounding a large group of police.

"We don't want our children and grandchildren to get cancer. Give us back our beautiful home," read one letter on Weibo.

In an online statement, the Yuhang government said all work on the project has been suspended and will not resume until the project receives public support.