A NATIONAL planning pressure group based in Radcliffe is warning communities of newly revealed dangers of living near landfill sites.

The Campaign for Planning Sanity (CfPS) is publicising a report commissioned by the department of health, entitled Birth outcomes and selected cancers in populations living near landfill sites.

It states that there is an increase of seven per cent in birth defects for those living within a 2km radius of landfill sites, with a greater risk from those sites that have licences to receive hazardous waste.

Mr Chris Maile of Outwood Road, who is the chairman of CfPS, said: "One of the most devastating planning proposals that can be inflicted on a local community is the prospect of having a landfill close to their homes. Communities nationwide should now question the legitimacy of landfill close to residential areas, and the criminality of failing to ensure that more resources are not put into recycling."

He added: "Based on this report the Government should talk about targets of 90 per cent in recycling, rather than the meagre figures now bandied around. Such targets would increase safety, reduce land take and increase employment through the creation of jobs in the recycling industry."