New powers enabling parish and town councils to clamp down on people who blight the environment, could flop because of lack of funding, councillors claim.

Parish councillors expect to have to slap an extra charge on Council Tax payers to meet the costs of the new measures under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, which comes into force next week.

And they warned that residents were likely to oppose paying out more to fund it.

Rural Affairs Minister Jim Knight was in Skipton yesterday to mark the introduction of the new legislation.

It allows parish councils to adopt powers to take action against fly-tippers, litter louts, people who allow their dogs to foul and on noisy neighbours. From next week they can fine people £80 for dropping rubbish or daubing graffiti. Those powers are already used by larger authorities like Bradford Council

Mr Knight said: "These powers have been asked for, now we want to see them put to good use. We don't expect all of them to use their powers but we hope they will be able to work with the community and use them effectively.''

But Keighley Town Councillor Alan Rhodes, a former police officer, said if the council wanted to take on the extra powers, it would have to employ someone to "police'' them.

He said: "There is no extra money coming with this. People already pay for this service in the Council Tax to Bradford Council.

"If we add a precept to that to pay for this it would be like a double taxation. People might not like it.''

He added that the Council was not dismissing the opportunity and would be looking at the possibility of employing a new Police Community Support Officer or deploying a present officer to enforce the measures.

Cullingworth Parish Councillor Brian Hobson said: "People in a small village resist paying an increased precept for a service which they already pay for in their Council Tax. Why pay twice, they will say?''

And he could not see parish councillor relishing the idea of "policing'' the rules themselves.

Tony Caunt, who sits on Wilsden Parish Council, said: "I can see there being a problem of people seeing it as appearing to pay twice.''

It was fine to give the powers but councillors who were volunteers would not welcome being responsible for policing the measures, he added.

Alan Woods, chief executive of the Keep Britain Tidy group, said: "I firmly believe in these powers but they will only act as a deterrent if they are enforced properly.''

The introduction of the Act comes as Bradford Council continues a £340,000 campaign to clean the streets of litter and graffiti.

The Council deals with 5,500 incidents of fly-tipping each year and clears about 12,000 tonnes of litter and rubbish costing the public about £400,000 a year.