PEOPLE misusing Ely s recycling centres to dump their rubbish are being targeted in a new year campaign. East Cambridgeshire District Council is aiming to join forces with Cambridgeshire County Council and Tesco to set up CCTV surveillance of the recyclin

PEOPLE misusing Ely's recycling centres to dump their rubbish are being targeted in a new year campaign.

East Cambridgeshire District Council is aiming to join forces with Cambridgeshire County Council and Tesco to set up CCTV surveillance of the recycling point in the superstore's car park in a bid to identify people using it to dump unauthorised household and trade waste.

Stephen Clements, executive director of environmental services, said: "The Tesco recycling centre is the busiest and most successful facility in the entire district, and we want to encourage its use. Unfortunately a lazy and uncaring minority is spoiling the facility for others and causing a health hazard by dumping all sorts of non-recyclable rubbish there."

Council environmental health officers said that after a lull during which incidents of illegal dumping had fallen, the problem seemed to be on the rise again, with everything from car batteries, empty paint tins and broken TV sets now being regularly abandoned at the recycling point.

An investigation last year at the site led to several prominent Ely businesses being cautioned by council enforcement officers after clues uncovered among discarded packaging and industrial waste identified them as the source.

Tesco has shown its commitment to recycling with a bin for old Christmas cards in store, which the public are urged to make use of.

And Littleport charity Branching Out is getting in on the act by encouraging people to recycle their Christmas trees.

People are asked to drop off their old trees at the main site on Grange Lane between 8.30pm and 5pm, Monday to Friday, or at the car park in front of the building out of business hours. Trees can also be dropped off at the recycling points in Ely and Littleport.