FOR an act of sheer idiocy the dumping of toxic chemicals in a Burnley backyard takes some beating - but it was a close-run thing in the idiocy stakes between the act of dumping and the reaction of the authorities when it was drawn to their attention.

Twelve children, who found the powder and threw it at one another in what they believed was a game, risked serious long-term damage to their health.

And the person or persons who dumped the stuff must have known full well what the dangers were - they were spelled out in a clear warning on the side of the plastic containers.

The notice warned of the possibility of irreversible damage to the nervous system and major organs including heart and lungs.

But a man who came across the waste several days earlier consulted a chemist, the police and Burnley Council without any alarm bells ringing among those tasked with protecting the public. Finally, he was given a Preston telephone number to ring and, after being passed from pillar to post, found himself speaking to a skip unit and told he would have to pay to have the drums removed.

He gave up in frustration.

A procedure for dealing with anything that smacks of dangerous chemicals must be put into place as quickly as possible.

The emergency services and local authorities must have clear instructions on how to deal with such finds.

A situation which leads to a well-meaning member of the public being disgracefully passed from police, to council, to a skip unit is clearly intolerable.

Blackburn with Darwen Council is teaming up with the Environment Agency to promote a care code which will prevent waste oil getting into the water system.

Surely a similar scheme for dealing with toxic material which can put lives at risk is even more urgent and Burnley Council should be getting its act together.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.