LANCASHIRE County Council moved this week to reassure the public over dumping of mad cow carcasses as fears about BSE swept the nation.

Worries surfaced again that infected material was being dumped at Burnley's Rowley tip after the discovery of a possible link between BSE and its human equivalent, CJD. The discovery has caused a massive slump in beef sales at butchers and supermarkets across the area.

Six years ago it was revealed that slaughtered BSE cattle were being brought to the big landfill site, but the practice was stopped after a public outcry.

A spokesman for the county council told the Citizen: "There are no cow carcasses going to Rowley to our knowledge and to the knowledge of Lancashire Waste Services, who operate the site.

"So far as we are aware, the only animal carcasses the site accepts at present are dogs.

"The site at Rowley is licensed to accept offal and animal carcasses with the proviso that no animal waste shall be accepted that is, or is suspected of being, contaminated with the BSE agent or any other disease notified to the licence holder by the county surveyor."

In 1990 it came to light that 25 mad cows had been dumped at Rowley. In line with government regulations, the headless carcasses were put into trenches and covered with 10ft of rubble. But in October of that year, the practice was banned.

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