OFFICIALS fear fly-tipping will increase in County Durham as the tax on burying waste rises.

The landfill tax is to more than double in the next six years, rising from £15 a tonne to £35 in 2010.

Councils fear that some operators will try to avoid the charge by disposing of waste illegally, instead of taking it to an authorised landfill site.

Durham County Council and five district authorities have agreed to pay towards the cost of employing an officer to identify and prosecute offenders.

The officer will be employed by the Environment Agency but will work in the waste management business unit at County Hall.

The county authority's deputy chief executive, Chris Tunstall, said: "Fly-tipping is both a blight on County Durham in environmental terms, and also a significant burden to the council taxpayer in terms of meeting the cost of clearing and disposing of the fly-tipped waste.

"The costs of waste disposal will rise steeply over the next few years as a result of both increased infrastructure improvement to comply with legislative requirements and the escalator for landfill tax, which will reach £35 per tonne by 2010.

"This is highly likely to lead to an increase in fly-tipping as unscrupulous operators attempt to avoid these legitimate costs of waste.

"Few fly-tipping offenders are caught in the act and, due to the lack of resources within local authorities and the Environment Agency, few cases ever get to court.

"Furthermore, the few successful prosecutions usually go unpublicised and the fines and costs imposed do not reflect the time and effort involved in preparing a prosecution case."

He said that fly tipping was a significant issue for the county, and that the officer would initially be appointed for a year.