YORK is set to face a huge increase in its landfill tax bill after mountains of flood-damaged furniture and household goods had to be ripped out of devastated homes.

York is set for an increasing running into the tens of thousands, as hundreds of skips are filled in the floods clean-up.

Figures from the Local Government Association (LGA) show that councils across the country will pay as much as £2.25 million in extra landfill tax because of around 16,500 tonnes of waste from flooded homes and businesses.

In York, by January 20 alone, the council collected 210 tonnes of waste from the skips it placed in affected neighbourhoods, racking up £17,000 in taxes for that period alone, but many people also took damaged goods to the Hazel Court tip, so the bill will be higher.

An average of 1.66 tonnes of household goods and freezer waste has had to be collected from each of the flooded homes and businesses, the LGA has estimated, and the organisation has called for the taxes to be handed back to local areas to be invested in projects that support jobs and growth in the area, instead of going to the Treasury.

The organisation has also said that authorities in Cumbria and Yorkshire need more financial help to rebuild things like damaged roads and flooding, and it has called for the Government to apply for European Union "solidarity funding" to help in the recovery.

LGA environment spokesman and Wakefield council leader Peter Box said: "Councils have been pulling out all the stops to help businesses and households that have been ravaged by the floods.

"This has included taking about 30,000 tonnes of flood-damaged household goods, like furniture and freezer waste, to landfill sites.

"We are calling on Government to allow councils to keep all of this landfill tax. This money could make a major difference in helping councils to continue their sterling work with the massive clear-up and returning households and businesses to normality."