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

The Landfill Tax is set to more than double in the next six years, rising from £15 a tonne now to £35 in 2010.

Councils fear that some operators will try to avoid the charge by dumping waste where they can instead of taking it to an authorised landfill site.

Durham County Council and five district councils have agreed to pay towards the cost of an officer who will identify offenders and prosecute them.

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

The county council'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 and this is highly likely to lead to an increase in fly-tipping."

He said the officer would initially be appointed for a year. The councils involved in the scheme are Derwentside, Chester-le-Street, Durham, Sedgefield and Wear Valley.