CRAVEN people could be disadvantaged by a new waste disposal deal, which will shorten the lifespan of Skibeden Tip by five years.

Yorwaste, which manages the Skipton site, has signed a £5 million contract with Bradford Metropolitan Council to deal with 300,000 tonnes of waste from the Keighley area.

Now critics say the tip will be full by 2017, with Keighley producing more rubbish than that produced by Craven households and businesses.

Skipton Chamber of Trade has raised concerns that the deal will put local people at a disadvantage.

But, Steve Grieve, of Yorwaste, said that 2017 was a long way off and that by 2010 waste would be dealt with in a different way.

He said new technology should mean that the vast majority was recycled and composted.

He justified the contract with Keighley and the shortening of the life of the tip by claiming that Yorwaste needed a sizeable volume of waste to make "green" alternatives economically viable.

"That is why we need to pull in adjoining waste streams," he said.

Ken Moody from North Yorkshire County Council told the chamber of trade: "The annual input to Skibeden will be 100,000 to 120,000 cubic metres and assuming the Bradford contract ends in March 2008 then the Skibeden site will be full in 2017.

"There is obvious concern that additional waste from whatever source will lead to the site filling up more quickly than may otherwise have been the case.

"However, there are strict targets being imposed on the amounts of waste that can be landfilled, which by 2020 will mean only 15 per cent of what is currently landfilled will be allowed."

Mr Moody said that although there were no firm plans as to what would happen after that date the county's waste management strategy would be looking at alternatives in conjunction with firms like Yorwaste.

It would discuss whether a new landfill site should be built locally, as well as whether Craven's waste would have to be dumped out of the area, and if a transfer station needed to be provided locally for bin wagons to unload before waste was bulked up and taken elsewhere.

It will also look at boosting feasible recycling processes and reducing the amount of waste produced.

Skipton Chamber of Trade also raised concerns about the new contract increasing waste disposal costs for Craven businesses once Skibeden was full.

Mr Moody said that any alternatives to landfill were likely to cost businesses and households more, as landfill was the cheapest way to dispose of waste.

However he hoped that a guaranteed income from a contract like Keighley would subsidise prices for other users.