Spy tactics are to be used in a tough new crackdown on criminals dumping scrap and dangerous waste in Bradford.

Hidden cameras and secret tracking devices are just some of the surveillance techniques in the pipeline as enforcement officers wage war on a growing mountain of mess.

Amjad Ishaq, of Bradford Council's ten-strong enforcement team, said the new measures were needed to catch professional fly-tippers dumping junk at some of the city's worst hot spots.

He said: "Clearly people are making a business out of this and there is a lot of it going on in Bradford.

"All it takes is a typical white-van man to go around collecting waste for about £50 a time.

"It is easy money if they get a few jobs a day - but they then fly-tip it."

The crackdown comes as the Environment Agency confirmed large-scale tipping by gangs was on the rise across the UK.

An Agency spokesman said: "Large-scale tipping appears to be happening more frequently.

"We are told that people are moving out of drugs and into waste because it's profitable and people do not tend to end up in prison."

But Mr Ishaq warned a sting operation was on its way in Bradford after talks between the Council and the Environ-ment Agency to discuss surveillance techniques.

He said the Council was planning to install CCTV at troublespots and run sting operations to catch illegal operators in the act. "One idea has been to put CCTV up at some of the worst fly-tipping spots in the district which we are planning to do in the next few weeks," he said.

"We are also looking at hiding tracking devices in rubbish and then getting one of these small-scale operators to collect it to see where it goes."

But he admitted the problem in Bradford was getting worse because of the rising cost of waste disposal.

He said: "I think it is getting worse because the cost of tipping has increased, so for some businesses it is easier to fly-tip."

He believed fly-tipping in Sandford Road, Barkerend, was a good example where fridges, tree cuttings and household items had been dumped in the middle of the road last week.

"We try to get it cleared as quickly as possible because when people see it they tend to add to it," he said.

Councillor Mukhtar Ali (Lib Dem, Bowling and Barkerend), who campaigned with residents to try to get the Sandford Road rubbish cleared, welcomed the spy-cameras move.

"Enforcement of this nature will help alleviate and help reduce the amount of rubbish being fly-tipped in Bradford," he said.

"The people doing it know it is wrong and it gives such an unsightly image to people visiting the city.

"Everybody needs to work together to fight this problem."

In Idle last week 50 tonnes of deadly asbestos waste were illegally dumped in the loading bay at Dunn Stores, Idle Cross Road.

"Unfortunately it was on private land so the owner had to pay to get it cleared in that instance," said Mr Ishaq.

Nobody from the store was available for comment today but a Council investigation is under way to follow up a number of anonymous leads.

Mr Ishaq said: "That was a very serious fly-tipping incident and we are angry because of the irresponsible nature of it."

He appealed for anyone with information about the incident to contact the enforcement team on (01274) 437757.