FLYTIPPING is blighting neighbourhoods and in some cases endangering lives, angry councillors have claimed.

They are calling on Bradford Council to get a grip on the problem, after the district's flytipping hotspots were revealed.

And the authority is also facing renewed calls to reconsider its controversial tip permit scheme.

The new figures reveal the number of fixed-penalty fines and prosecutions for flytipping and littering offences in each of the Council's 30 wards.

Bradford's City ward has by far and away the biggest problem, with 34 fines doled out and four prosecutions in 2013/14.

Bowling and Barkerend, Bradford Moor and Royds were also flagged up as problem areas, with three prosecutions apiece.

In comparison, neither the Wharfedale nor the Craven ward saw any offenders fined or prosecuted.

In total, 21 people were prosecuted for flytipping offences in 2013/14 across the district.

The figures were released by Bradford Council in response to a question posed by Councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed (Bradford Independent Group, Manningham).

He said he had been getting far more complaints about flytipping in his ward than he had received in previous years, and had wondered if there was a pattern.

He said: "I'm concerned that the illegal dumping of rubbish is blighting areas, some of which are areas of natural beauty."

Bradford Council started demanding to see residents' permits at tips in July last year and began charging for bulky waste collections in September.

Cllr Ahmed said he was particularly worried that these new changes, as well as the rising costs of hiring skips, were driving people into illegally dumping their waste.

He called for the Council to re-think its policies, and added: "It is the prosecution figures that really concern me. There is very little prosecution, which shows that perhaps it is difficult to monitor or police the flytippers."

Cllr Ahmed said in his ward, a load of asbestos had been dumped around three months ago on a street where children play.

The asbestos, in St Paul's Road, was getting progressively more damaged, releasing potentially harmful materials, Cllr Ahmed said.

He said: "Cars are driving over some of the asbestos, which creates dust. There are kids playing on that street, and it is a major health and safety issue."

Cllr Ahmed said he had reported it to the Council around four weeks ago, but it had not been moved.

Councillor Mike Ellis, who has a background in waste management, also raised his concerns about flytipping earlier this year.

In response to the latest figures, Cllr Ellis (Con, Bingley Rural) said he was growing increasingly worried about "tipping on a commercial scale".

He said: "I am still extremely concerned. I don't think they are getting on top of it."

He said two or three days ago he had noticed rubbish dumped at one spot in Shipley which looked like "something that has come off a tipper wagon".

He added: "This is commercial tipping on a commercial scale and it is blighting our communities."

Cllr Ellis called for a crackdown by the Labour-run Council, perhaps with the help of the police or the Environment Agency, to stop and quiz the drivers of any vehicles going around piled with rubbish.

Councillor Andrew Thornton, executive member for the environment, said the amount of rubbish being flytipped across the district was falling, and said this showed the permit issue was a "red herring".

But he said the number of instances where people were dumping very large amounts of rubbish was on the up, suggesting the problem was down to "rogue businesses rather than residents".

He urged anyone who saw this happening to take a note of registration numbers or other details which could help the Council bring offenders to justice.

He said: The key thing is, if people see flytipping happening, if they are able to get any of the details of the vehicles that are doing it and they are prepared to make a statement and report it to the Council, then we have something we can pursue through the courts."

Meanwhile, in the district of Craven, flytippers who dumped old mattresses and other rubbish in a lay-by alongside a busy main road have come under fire.

The rubbish was were left in the lay-by near Kildwick roundabout, on the A629 Aire Valley trunk road.

The site is within the boundaries of Craven Council, which says that where evidence exists, flytippers will be prosecuted.

A spokesman said: "Flytipping is illegal and an eyesore and although it is not a huge problem in Craven – we had the fifth lowest incidence across the country in 2012/13 – we take it very seriously and investigate all cases reported to us."

Bradford councillor Andrew Mallinson's Craven ward borders the scene of the incident, but he said boundaries were unimportant when it came tackling the litter menace.

"It's everybody's countryside and it is getting blighted," the Conservative councillor said.