THERE'S been a veritable revolution in the collecting and recycling of rubbish over the past few years.

Special boxes, bags and bins encourage us to separate the stuff we throw away and most supermarket car parks have a collection of containers for everything from shoes and books to clothes, bottles and paper.

But while we have become more efficient in the way household rubbish is collected and dealt with a lot of this effort is negated by people who trash private land.

We've all seen them - burnt out cars, mattresses and filthy bin bags.

Wherever one item is left others soon join it and the result is an unofficial tip is quickly created.

Getting rid of such eyesores is a nightmare for local authorities who have to go through a series of complex, time-consuming legal procedures before they are able to move in and clear the land.

Now the county councillor in charge of environmental matters, Coun Jean Yates, has written to all Lancashire MPs and Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott calling for stronger legal powers against flytippers and people who allow their land to become little more than an unofficial rubbish dump.

As she says powers such are needed not just to eradicate visual eyesores but also to get rid of threats to health.