FURIOUS traders in Clitheroe are fighting back after being told they must pay to use a municipal recycling centre.

The Clitheroe and District Chamber of Commerce has launched a campaign to get the controversial charges ditched.

From May 14, Lancashire County Council intends to charge traders between £8 and £21 per visit to any of its 23 household recycling centres in the county.

Traders take their waste paper and cardboard to the Henthorn Road Recycling Centre in Clitheroe, rather than leave it out for Ribble Valley Council refuse collectors.

And now they intend to fight the new scheme, with help from rural Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans.

Clitheroe and District Chamber of Commerce spokesman Jean Jackson, of the Lighting Centre in Moor Lane, said: "These charges are unbelievable. We're talking about packaging and paper waste that we take to the recycling centre of our own volition, but we can now be charged up to twenty pounds per visit.

"I don't have storage facilities at the back of my shop and need to take this waste somewhere, otherwise I will have to leave it out with the rest of the rubbish.

"If I am prepared to take waste to the recycling centre to save it being dumped in landfill, then I should be able to leave it there.

"Business rates are going up all the time, but traders don't feel they are getting much in return. We're just getting extra charges all the time."

Ray Barker, of Castle Miniatures in Moor Lane, added: "Everyone is complaining about the amount of recyclable waste going into landfill and now traders have been told they must pay for recycling. It just doesn't make sense.

"Most shops generate a lot of rubbish, but most of it can be recycled. How will they be able to tell at the recycling centre whether someone is a trader or not?

"Are they going to rifle through their rubbish?" Ribble Valley MP Nigel Evans said: "These new charges are a double-whammy for traders, who are already being charged for rubbish collection and now have to pay for recycling.

"Traders will be forced to dump their recyclable rubbish in landfill, or pass on the extra charges to consumers, so no-one will win from this.

"Lancashire County Council needs to make up its mind whether it is a supporter of recycling or not."

A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "Our household waste recycling centres are primarily for householders to deposit and recycle their rubbish.

"They have previously accepted small quantities of commercial waste, but some traders have used the sites to dispose of their waste without paying the appropriate charge.

"Due to increasing numbers of users, containers have become congested and as a result aren't always available to the general public. To remedy this problem it is intended access to the centres will now be controlled. Leaflets will be provided to commercial users detailing alternative waste facilities in the area, which are happy to accept trade waste.

"It is anticipated that this will result in a better facility being provided for the general public."