A controversial decision to introduce permits at Bradford Council household tips was based on “half a job” research, the Tories have claimed.

The permit scheme was set up by the Council’s Labour administration earlier this year as a cost-saving measure.

Council bosses believed the district was a “net importer” of waste – that is, more people travelled into Bradford to visit household waste recycling centres than travelled out of Bradford to do so.

But the Conservatives are now questioning the quality of this research.

Councillor Jackie Whiteley (Con) represents the Wharfedale ward, which borders the Leeds district.

She said residents had complained to her about the inconvenience of the new scheme, and she was left wondering why Bradford Council had not struck a co-operation deal with Leeds City Council.

Coun Whiteley said she asked the waste portfolio holder, Councillor Andrew Thornton, about what research the Council had done.

She said: “I was stunned by the response. The Council has done half a job. They looked into the cost of residents from Leeds City Council’s area disposing of waste in Bradford Council’s recycling facilities, but did not bother to ascertain how much it was costing Leeds to dispose of Bradford residents’ waste.”

She said this was “ridiculous and shoddy”. In response, Coun Thornton said: “As usual Bradford’s Conservatives are being entirely parochial, looking at just one part of the district and ignoring the rest.

“Research conducted over several years has consistently shown high numbers of non-Bradford residents using our household waste recycling centres.”

He accused the Conservative group of failing to tackle the problem when it was in power, forcing Bradford Council taxpayers to foot the bill for disposing of other people’s waste.

Since June, people have had to show a residents’ permit to get into any tip in the Bradford district. So far, 50,000 permits have been issued.

People from Bradford can still visit tips in the Leeds district, as Leeds City Council does not operate a permit scheme, except for trade waste.

Leeds City Council said it did not know how much it cost it to dispose of waste from Bradford. A spokesman said the authority recognised it might be more convenient for householders from Bradford to visit a Leeds tip, and that they were welcome to do so.