Fire chiefs today warned of a deadly disaster waiting to happen in Bradford after discovering a mountain of more than 22,000 tyres illegally dumped in the city.

Officers joined forces with environment chiefs to raid two illicit sites, and warned the city and its people could be facing unprecedented danger.

Bogus tyre operators collect waste tyres for a fraction of the fee needed to dispose of them correctly then rent land and warehouses in the city to dump them - before disappearing without trace.

Today the Environment Agency, responsible for environmental incidents relating to air, land and water, said it was a problem unique to Bradford. It has joined forces with the city's fire services to crack down on the offenders.

The agency's enforcement officers were staggered to discover the 22,000 tyres dumped at the two known sites in the city.

A massive dump of 12,000 waste tyres was investigated in Duncombe Street, Bradford.

Enforcement officer Paul Salter said: "It is an extremely large site and a potential environmental hazard.

"If something like this was set on fire it would affect the air and water quality and contaminate the land."

Station commander Brian Robson and a crew from Bradford Central Fire Station helped the enforcement team gain access to the site.

"This is the biggest tyre dump that we know of and if this went up in smoke it would be a major disaster and the effects would be phenomenal," said Mr Robson.

"We have a particular interest in this matter as burning tyres can cause all sorts of problems for firefighters, people living nearby and the environment.

"When the tyres burn they are very difficult to extinguish and firefighters have to stand on top of the tyres which is putting their lives at risk.

"There's also the impact of the thick toxic smoke on the firefighters and the people living nearby."

In March the Telegraph & Argus highlighted the dangers of a fire at an illegal tyre dump in Cotewell Road, West Bowling, Bradford.

It took 40 firefighters four hours to tackle the blaze of just 500 tyres.

"Burning tyres cause a thick smoke and just a few on fire can be bad enough, but a fire at a dump this size would be much worse," added Mr Robson.

Another site in Hall Lane, West Bowling, Bradford was found to hold about 10,000 waste tyres.

Stuart Jenkinson, the agency's enforcement team leader, said they first became aware of the these dumps last June.

"We received a tip-off about the Duncombe Street site in March this year and have been carrying out surveillance," he said.

Enforcement officer Mike Rowbotham added: "We can't say exactly why, but in the Bradford area it appears that people are renting land and property to dump waste tyres and then disappear leaving the owners with the problem of disposing of them."

Offenders can be prosecuted by the agency for the illegal dumping of waste and the keeping of waste on an unauthorised site under the Environment Act 1990.

Both carry a maximum fine of £20,000 and/or a six months sentence at the magistrates' Court, and two years' sentence and/or an unlimited fine at Crown Court.

Mr Jenkinson added: "The tyres at both Bradford sites were waste tyres and obviously offences have been committed.

"We will be contacting the landowners and investigating further."

The Agency prosecuted someone in Essex who received an eight-month prison sentence for dumping tyres.

Mr Rowbotham said the tyres probably came from garages and were sold on under the impression they were being recycled, sent to Africa or disposed of legally.

The cost of legal disposal is about 50p to 80p per car tyre, and about £15 for a tractor tyre.

"We believe that the people doing this will be charging about 40p per tyre - at the cost of the environment and possibly other people's lives," added Mr Rowbotham.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.