Bradfordians caught dumping waste at a Leeds tip could face a £50,000 fine or 12 months behind bars.

The new rules have been brought in at the Ellar Ghyll tip at Otley less than a mile away from Menston and on the doorstep of Burley-in-Wharfedale just across the Bradford border.

Up until now, people living in those villages have been able to get rid of household waste and recyclable goods at the Ellar Ghyll site but now staff are turning them away.

Leaflets are being handed out and a new notice has gone up at the site warning off Bradfordians.

The notice says the tip should be used by Leeds residents only, that the waste should be household and it should only be from the tipper's home - no one else's.

Fuming residents are setting up a petition and have called in Whafedale councillor Matt Palmer (Con) to help them get Leeds City Council chiefs to change their minds.

Coun Palmer said: "People are being stopped as they drive in and being asked if they are from Leeds or Bradford. If they are honest and say Bradford they are being asked to leave and use a Bradford tip instead.

"Traditionally people who live on the doorstep in Menston, Burley and some parts of Baildon have always been able to use this site but not anymore. It's been done without any consultation. Leeds is being a grinch.

"Basically the notice is saying if you have offered to be a good neighbour and get rid of granny or an elderly friend's rubbish for them you could end up with a prison sentence!"

Coun Palmer said he would be writing to the chief executive of Leeds City Council urging him to have a change of heart.

And he blamed the new regulations on the Government's threat to financially penalise local authorities over excessive landfill use.

He said: "This move is bad for Leeds, bad for Bradford, bad for local residents and bad for the local environment. I have already contacted the council and I will be writing to the chief executive and leader of Leeds Council to get this rubbish decision reversed."

One resident who will be putting his name to the residents' petition is Alan Paterson, 50, of Menston, who has been using the Ellar Ghyll tip for 30 years.

Mr Paterson, a director of a transport company, said: "The tip opened in the days of the old Otley Urban District Council and they put it on the very edge of their border because they didn't want to get any complaints from Leeds residents about have a tip in the middle of Otley, perhaps Leeds councillors need reminding of that!

"If I have to use my nearest Bradford tip at Ilkley it will cost me a 12 mile round trip and 45 minutes rather than just a one mile journey taking ten minutes, it doesn't do much for global warming."

A Bradford Council spokesman said there had never been an agreement with Leeds Council for Bradford people to officially use Ellar Ghyll.

And a spokesman for Leeds City Council, said: "Unfortunately Leeds City Council has had to restrict the use of its household waste sort sites to Leeds residents only. The cost of waste disposal in Leeds is rising sharply year on year."

The spokesman added: "We regret any inconvenience caused to non-Leeds residents who have been using the Leeds sites up to now and advise them to approach their own local authorities to establish the correct locations at which they should dispose of their household waste."

Although Leeds Council has no plans to introduce a Leeds residents' only permit system, it will be using on-site staff and CCTV to monitor how Ellar Gyhll is used and to remind people of the new arrangements.