A CRAVEN councillor has warned he will seek to prosecute the operators of Skibeden landfill site for allowing rubbish from the tip to be blown across the countryside.

Robert Heseltine said he was fed up of asking for the tip on the outskirts of Skipton to be better controlled so paper and plastic was not blown into nearby trees and hedges.

"I have asked, through the officers of Craven District Council, for better management of the waste site, but absolutely no notice has been taken," said Coun Heseltine. "There is nothing left but to seek a prosecution under the Environment Act and I have asked the officers to set the wheels in motion to bring such a prosecution."

The tip is operated by Yorwaste, a private company set up by North Yorkshire County Council, which owns 83 per cent, and York City Council, which owns the remaining 17 per cent.

Coun Heseltine accused Yorwaste of being more interested in profit than running the tip properly.

More than half the waste dumped in Skibeden is from the Bradford Metropolitan area and Coun Heseltine said this added insult to injury.

"The tip is being used up twice as fast as would be the case if it was dealing with just Craven's waste and soon a new facility will have to be found to replace Skibeden. Management of the site has become virtually non existent.

"I have raised this before and was given assurances, but nothing has been done.

"New netting has been promised, but nothing has materialised and so I have no alternative but to seek a prosecution."

Coun Heseltine said he could understand problems occurring after a gale but the rubbish problem at Skibeden was almost a daily occurrence.

He claimed that under the licence agreement, rubbish had to be covered at the end of the working day but this was not being done with the result that trees and hedges around the site were strewn with paper and plastic bags.

A spokesman for Yorwaste said: "On occasions when the wind is blowing in a particular direction, waste does escape from the site, but whenever this happens we endeavour to pick it up within 24 hours."

The Environment Agency said it was to hold a meeting with Yorwaste about the management of the site and confirmed that one of the licence conditions was that the tipping face should be covered to minimise waste blowing away.

The spokesman added that complaints had been received and inspectors called in, but he pointed out that tipping was a seven day a week operation at Skibeden and Craven District Council had no facilities for storing waste on windy days so it was not blown about when dumped.

"It is a balancing act between the public who want their bins emptying regularly and the locality where winds can cause problems," said the spokesman.