Six months ago we warned that the ban on vans at household waste recycling centres would lead to a surge in illicit fly-tipping -- and it has. Alarmingly so.

Illegal dumping has rocketed by 60 per cent in Blackburn and Darwen alone. The council has been inundated by 5,000 complaints. And indications are that fly-tipping is also increasing elsewhere.

The ban on vans is designed to stop businesses abusing the free facilities for disposing of household rubbish by sneaking in their trade waste.

But it does not follow that everyone arriving with a van is conveying non-domestic refuse. Indeed, particularly when they are disposing of bulky household items like furniture or washing machines, many people find it more convenient to use, borrow or even hire a van for trips to the tip.

What if they are turned away or refuse to pay charges of up to £21 per visit that Lancashire County Council plans for traders using the recycling centres?

Their options are to go away, bring back the rubbish in a car, pay for it to be dumped at a private tip, or, in the case of bulky waste, ask for the council to collect it -- for which they may also have to pay and can wait weeks.

The other alternative, which large numbers of people are evidently taking, is to illicitly dump the stuff -- creating eyesores and health hazards and a huge bill for cleaning it up.

The blanket van ban is to blame for this and should be lifted.