WASTE bosses are to be given a tour of Burnley's fly-tipping hotspots amid claims that new rubbish disposal charges are forcing traders to dump their waste in the back yards of empty properties.

Lancashire County Council waste chiefs have been called to an emergency meeting by Burnley Council's environment scrutiny committee to discuss the issue.

It is thought that traders are trying to avoid being charged to dispose of their rubbish at the council tip.

Before the meeting, committee members will take County Councillor Brian Jackson, executive member for urban and rural regeneration and Neil Greenhalgh, the county's head of waste management, on a tour of the town's fly-tipping hotspots to see the problems being caused by the new charging policy, introduced at waste disposal sites around the county in July. Councillor Paula Riley, vice-chairwoman of the environment scrutiny committee, said: "We are very unhappy about these charges, because we believe it has led to an increase in fly-tipping. I feel the county council should abandon the charges because of the amount it is costing us to clean up after the fly-tippers.

"There was enough fly-tipping going on before, but there is even more now and it is making it more difficult and is costing us more money for officers to go out and clear it all up." She said areas such as Trinity, Burnley Wood and Daneshouse, where there a lot of empty properties, were particularly suffering.

She said: "I want to ask the County Councillor Brian Johnson how he would like to live next door to one of these properties, where waste is constantly being dumped in the backyard."

The scheme requires people using a van or trailer to dump rubbish at household waste sites to pay for a permit.

Earlier this year Burnley firefighters complained that the controversial charges had fuelled a rise in fires across the borough.

Station Officer Ron Keddick, from the fire reduction team, said fly-tippers leaving rubbish at derelict addresses to avoid the additional costs were creating a magnet for arsonists.

He added: "The charge for taking a van or trailer into a tip has created a problem because people aren't prepared to pay, so they are just finding an empty back yard to dump it in, where it gets torched.

"The charge is contributing, there's no two ways about that. The main fires we are getting now are empty houses and rubbish and it's a big drain on our resources."

A spokesman for the county council said: "Each year, trade waste dumped at our household waste recycling centres costs the taxpayer £1 million.

"The permit scheme was launched across the county following a 12-month trial at three sites on the Fylde coast. During this test there was no discernible increase in the amount of fly-tipping."

The emergency meeting and tour takes place on Monday, December 15.