A SURVEILLANCE operation has been mounted in quiet country lanes to crack down on the problem of illegal tyre dumping.

Officers from the Environment Agency carried out the operation in some of the villages surrounding Durham City following a massive increase in the number of tyre dumping incidents reported in the last year.

Isolated country lanes around Cassop, Quarrington Hill, Kelloe and Coxhoe, were checked, with officers gathering intelligence about vehicles suspected of carrying waste tyres.

Reports of large scale tyre fly-tipping across the North East have more than doubled over the past year, with criminal gangs and unscrupulous waste carriers thought to be responsible.

So far this year, the number of tyres found dumped has already equalled the total number dumped in the whole of 2009.

Kate Halka, Environment Agency Swat Project Team Leader, said: "In the last three months we have seen a marked increase in incidents of tyre dumping in County Durham.

"Our officers were deployed throughout the area last week and will now be making follow-up enquiries to prosecute those responsible."

Anyone with information about tyre fly-tipping incidents is asked to contact the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807060.