TWO councils behind a controversial decision to ban vans from their tips today refused to reconsider the policy.

Blackburn with Darwen Council and Lancashire County Council have come under fire for refusing to let people drive vans into household recycling centres to dump domestic rubbish.

The ban was imposed across the county earlier this year in a bid to reduce the amount of waste going into landfill sites ahead of new landfill charges to be imposed on local authorities.

Council bosses claim businesses are abusing the system to avoid paying at commercial waste centres.

But opponents, including the Tidy Britain Group, have claimed the policy is leading to a rise in flytipping because people who are turned away from tips are simply dumping their rubbish at roadsides. A spokesman for Lancashire County Council said: "There are two reasons we don't let larger vehicles on the site, one of which is safety.

"The second is that we are trying to remove trade waste from the site, and 95 per cent of all trade waste which comes into our household sites comes in vans.

"This costs the taxpayer around £1million a year."

He added that the policy would not be reviewed unless people complained to the county council about it.

Peter Hunt, director of direct services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, also said the policy would not be reviewed.

He said: "We are finding that more and more commercial waste is being taken to the household waste sites, which makes it difficult for residents to access them.

"Under the new arrangements, we divert all commercial vehicles and vans to the commercial site at Roman Road where the waste will be inspected.

"If the waste is commercial a small charge would continue to be made. If the waste is domestic there will still be no charge.

"This is not a licence for flytipping, rather we are asking people in commercial and large vehicles to visit a more suitable site.

"The new site is purpose built for accepting larger volumes of waste which such vehicles can

carry.

"The council will continue to crack down on flytipping and we are working in conjunction with the Environment Agency to launch surveillance in fly-tipping hot spots which will lead to prosecutions."