THE banning of vans from household recycling centres is designed to prevent companies using them.

Landfill tax is imposed on commercial waste but not domestic waste.

So businesses are now expected to use special tips where they will be charged for dumping.

However, many firms were still believed to be using domestic tips to avoid the charges, so there is a blanket ban on all vehicles with more than four wheels -- which includes many vans and all lorries.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "There are two reasons we don't let larger vehicles on the site, one of which is safety. The second is that we are trying to remove trade waste from the site, and 95 per cent of all trade waste which comes into our household sites comes in vans.

"This costs the taxpayer around £1million a year." The policy would not be reviewed unless people complained to the county council about it, he said.

Peter Hunt, director of direct services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said the policy would not be reviewed.

He said: "We are finding that more and more commercial waste is being taken to the household waste sites, which makes it difficult for residents to access them.

"Under the new arrangements, we divert all commercial vehicles and vans to the commercial site at Roman Road where the waste will be inspected.

"If the waste is commercial a small charge would continue to be made. If the waste is domestic there will still be no charge.

"The new site is purpose built for accepting larger volumes of waste which such vehicles can carry."