COUNTY Hall bosses have admitted for the first time that their ban on vans using public tips is 'likely' to have contributed to rocketing reports of fly-tipping.

They have now agreed to start working with borough councils to help tackle the problem.

The admission, from environment officer Neil Greenhalgh in a report obtained by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, comes less than a year after the controversial permit scheme was introduced.

Under the scheme, vans were banned from Household Waste Recycling Centres unless drivers obtained a special permit which allowed them to dump only household waste.

The 'inconvenience' caused by having to obtain a permit, borough councils claimed, resulted in some people dumping waste on the side of the road instead.

Their concerns were backed up by figures, revealed by the LET in February, which showed that since the van ban had been introduced, cases of fly-tipping had rocketed 100per cent in the Ribble Valley, 44per cent in Pendle and 127per cent in Chorley.

Until now, County Hall bosses have refused to admit that the ban could be at least contributing to the rise.

While business waste has always been banned from tips, borough councils had claimed banning vans from the centres effectively passed the cost of disposing of illegal waste from the county to them, because they foot the bill for fly-tipping.

In his report, Mr Greenhalgh said: "While there is little evidence to suggest a permit scheme is causing significant increases in fly-tipping, it is likely it does contribute.

"As such, LCC should take responsibility for working with the districts of Lancashire and the Environment Agency to combat and prevent fly-tipping wherever possible through education, publicity and appropriate enforcement action."

James Russell, environmental health manager at Ribble Valley, said the authority would be happy to work with the county.

He said: "No-one can categorically state that the van ban has led to the increase, but it would be an amazing coincidence otherwise."

Council leader Chris Holtom said: "We all need to work together to catch these fly-tipping terrorists."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "It is probable that any attempt to prevent the illegal disposal of waste at our centres means that people will look to other illegal methods. In fact fly-tipping in general is on the rise nationally and is not a problem just in Lancashire.

"Any householder who used a trade type vehicle to transport household waste would still be entitled to take one load a month to their local centre.

"Until this system was introduced the taxpayer was footing the bill for trade waste of up to £1million per year that was being tipped at our sites."