COMPLAINTS about rubbish dumped on roads and side streets has rocketed by 60 per cent in just one year, it was revealed today.

A total of 5,000 grievances were made about dumping around Blackburn and Darwen -- and opposition councillors today blamed a van ban at tips for the rise in waste dumped.

Both Conservative and Lib Dem councillors said they warned the Labour leadership last year that if they imposed the ban on vans using tips people would just dump rubbish at the side of the road rather than asking the council to come and pick it up.

They claimed the council had created a 'fly-tipping charter' and was now having to invest £750,000 to clean up the borough.

Complaints increased

A report by Coun Mohammed Khan, in charge of household services, said the number of complaints of fly-tipping had increased by 60 per cent over the last year to 5,000.

Coun Khan said: "A team has been established to move fly-tipped items from parks, landscaped areas and highways. We will seek to prosecute where possible but people have to be prepared to give evidence.

"We are investing £750,000 in cleansing this year, and that will include enforcement and education. We need people on our side. We will also be leafleting homes in the borough in three languages telling people that we do a free collection of bulky items from houses.

"There is no need for people to dump their bulky items on the streets."

He said people faced a £2,500 fine if caught fly-tipping. Everything from bin bags to sofas have been retrieved.

Van ban

The van ban was introduced in an attempt to stop companies taking commercial waste to household recycling centres.

But Coun Paul Browne, leader of the Lib Dems, said: "We warned that fly-tipping would increase. If people can't take big things to the tip in a van they will just dump it in the street. That is a sad fact of life.

"They won't go to the trouble of ringing the council and getting it picked up. It is a stupid rule and I don't think sending out more leaflets is the answer. The answer is to let vans use the tips again.

"It is obvious when someone turns up in a van whether what they are carrying in the back is commercial waste or something domestic like a sofa."

And Coun Fred Slater, deputy Conservative leader added: "The council's van ban has just made the countryside a mess. Dumped sofas and sinks are everywhere.

"The borough, in short, is filthy. Rubbish is everywhere and the council is now having to spend money to make up for people's mess caused by council policy."

A flytipping charter

A spokesman for Encams, formerly the Tidy Britain Group, said: "Our studies show the majority of flytipped rubbish is domestic waste and these rules are only making the problems worse. It is like a flytipping charter."

The van ban has also been introduced in South Ribble and Preston by Lancashire County Council. It will be introduced in Burnley on July 1.

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Fly-tipping nationally is on the increase and it is something we are working with borough councils to tackle."