A local authority Tory group leader has appealed to a borough's Labour political bosses to take a tougher line with repeat flytippers.

Cllr Alan Hosker went to Burnley Council's executive on Tuesday to make a personal plea for a renewed crackdown on the serial rubbish dumpers who were blighting whole streets.

The authority's environment boss Cllr Lubna Khan told him action was being taken with prosecutions pending.

Cllr Hosker told the meeting he regularly received complaints from Padiham and across the borough about the issue.

He said many came not just from his Hapton with Park ward but neighbouring Gawthorpe ward as well.

Cllr Hosker said: "I want to talk about repeat offenders and fly-tipping.

"This upsets people deeply. It makes the streets look a mess.

"I want to know what action the council is taking to deal with repeat offenders.

"Are we prosecuting these people? Are we taking people to court?

"The are people who are identified and just keep on doing it every time their bins get overfilled.

"What can we do to stop these repeat offenders? It is a big concern. What can we as a council do about this?"

Cllr Khan said there were prosecutions in process which she could not discuss in public while they worked their way through the courts.

But she said in general: "We are aware of the problem.

"When people who fly-tip are identified they are issued with a fixed penalty notice. If they do not pay it they are taken to court.

"If they repeat the offence they are issued with another notice and the same process applies and they can be taken to court."

Cllr Hosker also complained about out of town taxi drivers picking up fares in the borough 'willy nilly' and agreed to take this issue to the council's licensing committee at Cllr Khan's suggestion.