MORE than £750,000 is to be spent on creating a second household waste and recycling centre in the Harrogate area.

Funding has been approved for the development and the search is now on for a site - but officers are confident it will be in use by spring 2007.

Several sites have been identified to the west of the town, and discussions are taking place between North Yorkshire County Council and landowners to see if any are available for development.

The tip will be built to modern standards and based on a split-level design so users can drop their waste over a barrier and will not have to climb steps.

Clare Wood, the county's executive member for environmental services, said: "The existing site on Wetherby Road is the busiest in the county and we expect the new site, to the west of the town, to be more convenient for at least half of the people currently using the service.

"The existing site will then be less busy, easier and more pleasant to use, but the benefits will be felt by all residents as we will also be taking traffic off Wetherby Road."

The next stage in the process is to confirm where the estimated additional £90,000 a year operating costs can be found. A request for additional funding will be put to the county council's executive next month.

However, while the provision of a second site has been confirmed as a priority, plans for a new site for use by Knaresborough residents have been postponed.

Coun Wood said: "We know that a site in Knaresborough would be popular and well used, but it would not have a significant impact on reducing congestion at the Stonefall site in Harrogate."