WASTE management firm Yorwaste is cracking down on people who illegally dump trade waste at household waste centres after finding army-style flares, bits of coffins, smoke bombs, canoes, bullets - even a stuffed wallaby.

Steve Grieve, managing director of Yorwaste, said the firm's 23 sites across North Yorkshire were being plagued by people trying to cut out the expense of dumping trade waste properly.

Mr Grieve said they were now getting tough, by assessing people with suspiciously large amounts of industrial waste, and getting them to sign a special declaration form.

The form, which includes vehicle details and the type of waste deposited, is used to declare that the load consists of household waste. If the same person continues to bring suspicious waste, the forms will be used to prosecute them.

Waste strategy manager Tony Sharkey said: "The illegal dumping of trade waste at household waste centres is a national problem, particularly as the cost of disposing of this type of waste escalates.

"The misuse of these centres has an impact on everybody, from the council taxpayers who have to foot the bill for dealing with the trade waste, to companies who dispose of their waste in the correct manner. They are being put at a disadvantage to those businesses who flout the law."

Mr Grieve said that the problem of finding a cheaper way for businesses to dispose of trade waste needed to be addressed. At present, they either have to pay an agent to take it away to a landfill site, or take it themselves.

Recently, the RSPCA brought a deer killed by a motorist to the Foss Islands centre, unaware that it could not be dumped there.

Bullets are found regularly throughout the county, causing a great deal of hassle for the company who are required to pass them on to the relevant local authority to make arrangements for disposal by the army or police.

Updated: 11:59 Tuesday, August 27, 2002