Hyndburn Council is buying a former industrial site as it prepares for a major shake-up to the disposal of non-recyclable waste across Lancashire.

It is one of four local authorities in the east of the county which will be seriously affected by the ending of the use of the Whinney Hill landfill site.

The other three are Burnley, Pendle and Rossendale.

The problem has arisen because the contract between Lancashire County Council - which disposes of residual waste on behalf of its 12 district councils - and SUEZ Recycling and Recovery to use the Whinney Hill site is due to end in March 2025, or March 2026 if an extension can be negotiated.

The waste will then be processed at the county council's Farington Waste Recovery Park in Leyland.

This means the four East Lancashire authorities will face longer journeys and higher costs to transport the waste for disposal.

Now Hyndburn Council's Cabinet has approved the purchase of the half-acre Northfield Works site in Richmond Street, Accrington, for between £500,000 and £550,000 to prepare for the change.

The authority plans to use it as a waste transfer station for the borough or to free up its current council vehicle maintenance unit (CVMU) in Library Street, Church, for that use.

Hyndburn's regeneration boss Cllr Kath Pratt told Wednesday's meeting of its Cabinet the change would otherwise require the authority to deliver its residual waste to Farington at a cost in the region of £1.2 million to £1.5m a year.

She said: "The costs of transferring waste to Farington can be significantly reduced by a local waste transfer station in Hyndburn.

"The Northfield Works site currently appears to be a possible local site for a waste transfer station from where LCC would collect the waste.

"Alternatively, by acquiring the Northfield Works site, the council could relocate the CVMU from Library Street, Church, thus freeing up the CVMU site for the creation of a waste transfer facility.

"Following planning considerations we have concluded that the existing CVMU is more suitable for a waste transfer station than the Northfield Works site."

Cllr Shaun Turner, Lancashire County Council's environment boss, said: "In Burnley, Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale, people's residual or 'grey bin' waste is currently taken by the district councils to Whinney Hill landfill site where the county council has a contract in place for its disposal until March 31, 2025.

"We informed the district councils that their new disposal point will be Farington Waste Recovery Park.

"These councils are currently exploring options to establish waste transfer stations where the waste could be bulked-up and collected by our large container vehicles, which would be far more efficient and cost-effective than their waste collection vehicles making the same journey.

"We are currently seeking an extension to our contract with the Whinney Hill site until March 31 2026."

Blackburn with Darwen Council has a separate contract with SUEZ to dispose of its residual waste at the company's plant in Darwen.