Army called in to ease rubbish crisis

The Italian army was called in early today to help clear piles of rubbish that has gone uncollected for more than two weeks in the Naples area.

Meanwhile, residents in a city suburb set up roadblocks to protest at the reopening of a dump.

Before dawn, army engineers used bulldozers to scoop up rubbish from the streets of Caserta, near Naples, working mainly around schools, which were reopening today after the Christmas break, the defence ministry said.

The crisis in the southern port city and the surrounding Campania region began on December 21, when collectors stopped picking up rubbish because there was no more room for it at dumps.

With rubbish accumulating across the city, residents took to burning the stinking mounds, raising alarm over toxic fumes.