A WASTE management company said yesterday that it would not tolerate threats to its staff after several were targeted last weekend.

Yorwaste was forced to close a number of tips because of Saturday's high winds.

All the sites reopened on Sunday, but the backlog meant people had to wait for 15 to 20 minutes to use the skips, prompting some to lose their tempers with staff.

The company has apologised for any inconvenience caused, but it warned that it would work the police to try to prosecute anybody found breaking the law.

Yorwaste Managing Director Steve Grieve said: "It's unfortunate that our staff were subjected to verbal and threatening behaviour by a small minority of people, when the vast majority fully understood the reasons for the closures.

"A combination of the bad weather and the fact that the post-holiday period led to people bringing more waste, particularly Christmas trees, into the sites all contributed to the problems.

"Nevertheless, we would like to apologise to all those who were inconvenienced at the weekend, but we would again like to stress that we will not tolerate our staff being abused or threatened.

"Working with the police, we will look to prosecute anyone found breaking the law."