THE backlash against the burial of animal carcasses at the Biffa landfill site in Withnell continued this week as local farmers claimed the number of deliveries was on the increase.

Dorothy Smith, of Higher Stanworth Farm, Bolton Road, which is next to the tip, said: "It is worrying because I can see more and more trucks coming to and from the site every day. At first there were only a few a day but now there seems to be one every 10 minutes."

Despite reassurances from Biffa that the site is safe to take carcasses, people are still concerned about the risk of contaminating nearby water supplies.

Another local farmer, Marjorie Longworth, from neighbouring Higher Whitehalgh Farm, in Feniscowles, said: "When I first heard about the carcasses I took a walk across the fields.

"I could see a large pile of carcasses waiting to be buried and the smell was awful -- I'm sure that can't be healthy!" However Barry Walton, spokesman for Biffa, played down the fears. He said the site is only allowed to receive a maximum of four lorry loads of carcasses a day, and the full quota has happened only once so far: "These loads contain anything from 19-200 sheep or pigs." Up until Thursday, April 26, a total of 7,500 sheep and pigs had been buried at the tip.

He added: "The trucks have increased over the last two-and-a-half months but it is nothing to do with the foot and mouth crisis. It is because Biffa have acquired the waste disposal company UK Waste, who collected refuse across Greater Manchester." He said the new contract meant an extra 400-500 tonnes of waste going to the site every day.

An approach to Biffa by The Citizen to visit the site was rejected on the grounds that it would be too difficult on the grounds of manpower and safety.