Bradford Council has apologised for sending out inaccurate information about its controversial new tip permit scheme.

The Council has said lessons would be learned after a form made it appear people could face prosecution for taking a neighbour’s rubbish to the dump.

People will soon have to show a permit proving they live in the Bradford district before they can get into any of the Council’s waste recycling sites.

But the Council has apologised for mistakenly saying people would also need a waste carriers’ licence if they wanted to bring someone else’s waste.

Councillor Mike Ellis (Con, Bingley Rural), who works in waste management, said he was taken aback when he read the “completely false” information on the Council’s permit application form.

He said it would frighten off public-spirited people who help elderly or disabled relatives or neighbours by going to the tip for them.

Coun Ellis said: “I was taken aback when I first read the application form as I knew some of the information to be completely false. It clearly says that if a resident collects waste other than their own they are required to possess a waste carriers’ licence, which is simply not true.”

He said he rang the Environment Agency, which confirmed people would only need a waste carriers’ licence if they were charging a fee.

He said: “There will be very many instances of residents taking waste to the recycling centres on behalf of elderly or disabled relatives or those without cars and the Council should be grateful that they do so rather than frightening them off with the threat of prosecution.”

Councillor Andrew Thornton, the Council’s executive member for the environment said: “The information on the forms and the roll- out of this scheme was not satisfactory and it is clear that we have lessons to learn. We apologise for this and have taken steps to rectify this.”

He said the permit scheme was aimed at saving money by excluding visitors from neighbouring authorities.