PROTESTERS against plans to site a tip in Shuttleworth claim a new report into the possible health risks posed by landfill sites will strengthen their campaign.

Members of Ramsbottom Against Landfill (RALF) say the Government-backed report has helped confirm their fears about the dangers of locating landfill facilities in built-up areas.

They said they will use the report in their fight to stop Biffa Waste Ltd from turning part of Fletcher Bank Quarry into a 15-year tip for industrial, household and commercial waste.

Biffa Waste Ltd's environment director, Mr Berian Griffiths, has responded by claiming the "interpretation of the this report could lead to unnecessary anxiety".

However, the director agreed that other means of waste disposal other than landfill sites should be considered in light of the study.

Mr Tony Ingham, leading campaigner against the proposals, which were first submitted more than three years ago, told the Bury Times: "The health hazards of living near a landfill site have always been one of three key issues we have based our campaign on. "We believe the new report does strengthen our argument against having a landfill site in Ramsbottom."

The report, the most extensive study into landfill sites anywhere in the world, follows an investigation by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit, an independent body funded by the Government, into the possible health risks for populations living around the sites.

It studied the rates of birth defects, low birthrate, stillbirths and certain cancers in populations living within 2km of landfill sites. The group examined 9,565 landfill sites that were in operation between 1982 and 1997.

Key findings included:

The rate of congenital anomalies in populations living within 2km of landfill sites containing hazardous waste is seven per cent more than expected.

Rates of low weight babies are around 5 per cent higher near to landfill sites, but there is no difference in the rate of stillbirths.

However, the SAHSU study states that it cannot be certain whether the landfill sites are responsible for the effects and that other explanations are possible.

But Mr Ingham said: "RALF has studied other similar reports published in other countries, including America, which confirm what this reports states.

"And we are not surprised by the results. We have fought our campaign on grounds of the increase in traffic by the site, how the environment, with regards to quality of life, will be affected and health grounds.

"Given this report, a landfill site should not be given permission. There are schools, houses and restaurants in the immediate vicinity of the proposed landfill site. It would be crazy for Bury Council to pass this application given this new report together with the other objections we have put forward."

Mr Griffiths replied: "We welcome this and any research however, without specific causal links it is difficult to respond with any immediate direct action."

The environment director referred to findings of the report which stated that specific birth problems were found to be higher before a landfill site opened.

He concluded: "Further investigation must seek to establish a direct causal link and the waste industry must be included in all the further research. What is very clear is that reducing the emphasis on landfill, for example by more recycling, must be the way forward and we urge all parties to pursue this route."