Ballymena council admits Scottish dumping contract

A council in the North has admitted exporting rubbish to Scotland.

Ballymena Borough Council says its landfill sites are full and contractors are now dumping its garbage across the Irish Sea.

It has contracted its waste disposal to a Tyrone company which is emptying the council’s bins at a landfill site in Cairnryan, Scotland.

The council disposes of the 800 tonnes of rubbish every week - transporting it by ship from the port of Larne in 40-foot trucks.

The rubbish is being taken out of Ballymena because its landfill site is nearly full and the Government has put a freeze on the council developing another landfill site.

The news is likely to anger environmentalist groups who say councils in the North are not doing enough to encourage recycling.