CALLS have been made for proper monitoring of cattle carcasses infected with mad cow disease which were dumped in the middle of the night on a Burnley tip.

The 33 headless carcasses were buried on Rowley landfill site in 1990. Members of the public protection committee were told 250 landfill sites across the country where carcasses had been buried were now being risk-assessed, but Burnley was not among them.

Environmental health and cleansing manager Andrew Mason has received replies from the environment agency, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food and Lancashire County Council. But Coun Marcus Johnstone criticised the replies. He said: "I think it is complete nonsense that there is no monitoring of this site.

"The letter from the environment agency says: 'At present, relatively little is known about the behaviour of the infective agent in landfill sites.' they don't seem to know what is going on. It is totally and utterly unconvincing when we get letters like this and then they refuse to monitor it.

"Lancashire County Council is trying to distance itself from this, but it is in this up to its neck. County authorised this, contrary to its contract, in the dead of night in a hush-hush secretive operation which only came to light by complete accident."

He praised The Independent newspaper for its investigation and urged the committee to push for monitoring.

Coun Marion Smith said: "I think it is despicable and no-one will change my mind. Our residents are just as important as the rest of the country and this should be monitored."

The committee is writing to the agencies for an update on the situation and to make more requests for monitoring.

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