UNSCRUPULOUS garage owners are illegally dumping tyres in Bolton to avoid paying the controversial fees for safe disposal and recycling.

Dozens of tyres are cropping up on wasteland and on the sides of roads -- many of them being set on fire by vandals.

The problem is putting an extra strain on the borough's fire service which is today pushing for greater action by the Environment Agency.

And with forthcoming European legislation likely to ban the disposal of used tyres in landfill sites, illegal tyre dumping could significantly increase.

Firefighters are angry that tyres are being dumped in a possible bid to by-pass the landfill tax introduced by the Tories in October 1996, the aim of which was to reduce the amount of waste taken to landfill sites.

The former Government's aim appears to have been fulfilled -- but the problem has instead been moved to back streets, alleys and wasteland where the tyres often fall prey to arsonists.

Farnworth's leading fire officer Michael Dargan said: "Tyre dumping is a major headache for us.

"Some of the worst back street garages are dumping them to avoid paying for their proper disposal and our problem is that they are nearly always set alight.

"The tax has not really had the effect that the Government thought it would have and dumping has been worst in the last few years."

The landfill tax is fixed at £11 per tonne of tyres which is over and above the fee charged by landfill sites.

Stephen Entwistle, manager of the Greater Manchester Waste site on Raikes Lane, said: "I suppose the tax doesn't help but fly tipping has been a problem for a while.

"There are some garages who object to paying for tyre disposal and believe it should be completely free."

On the recent August Bank Holiday Monday around 70 tyres were set on fire on the Oak Hill Trading Estate, on Walkden Road, Farnworth.

The same set of tyres were again set alight last week.

And while steps have been taken to ensure firms dispose of their waste responsibly via the Government's introduction of Duty of Care legislation, the ruling is self-governing and has proved relatively easy to flout.

With more tyres being condemned as scrap due to the increase in the minimum legal depth of tyre tread, firefighters fear the problem could become immediately worse.

And in the future, a proposed EC Directive, however, will ban the disposal of whole tyres at landfill sites by 2003 and shredded tyres by 2006.

Mr Dargan added: "Landfill sites are not seen as particularly environmentally friendly but the thick black smoke which comes from a pile of tyres on fire is not healthy either."

Some landfill site managers have been traditionally reluctant to accept tyres as they take up valuable space and do not break down very well.

As an alternative, the Government's Environment Agency said the tyres could be incinerated to generate power but it is an expensive process and one which is not widely available

A tyre taken to a recycling centre or left to be incinerated, however, incurs no tax charge.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency, which is setting up a national campaign to tackle illegal tyre disposal across the country, said: "We are aware that illegally dumped tyres look unsightly and are frequently set alight, causing pollution of air, land and water. "

"Businesses that deal with waste tyres have a responsibility to ensure the tyres are sent for recycling or to a legal route of disposal.

"The Agency will be undertaking checks to ensure this is happening."

A spokesman for Bolton Council added: "If the tyres are dumped on private land it becomes the responsibility of the landowner and if it's on our land, we'd deal with it. Either way it's illegal and I would think it would also be a police matter."

A spokesman for Thistlethwaites Tyres in Thynne Street said: "It is becoming a big problem, but any bona fide trader knows they must pay the fees for tyres to be safely disposed."

It costs between 50 to 65p to legally dispose of each tyre.