Campaigners from Burley-in-Wharfedale and Menston who are fighting to protect their right to use the tip at Ellar Ghyll are arguing that it was set up partly for their use in the first place.

Residents within the two villages have been told by Leeds City Council that they are no longer allowed to use the recycling site because they live within the Bradford district.

But they have branded the decision as "absurd" and they say their case is strengthened by evidence that the tip was originally set up by Ilkley and Otley councils for the benefit of people in both areas.

Wharfedale councillor Matt Palmer has been at the forefront of the campaign which was launched after Leeds City council imposed the ban on anyone outside its area.

He said residents of Menston and Burley were being forced to drive to tips which were further away, and anyone disposing of someone else's waste would face 12 months in prison or a fine of £50,000.

Coun Palmer warned that the ban would be bad for the local environment and could lead to an increase the amount of fly tipping.

But now protestors are hoping that historical evidence about the origins of the tip could force Leeds to change its mind.

Coun Palmer says there has been a big local reaction to the ban, and he and the Shipley MP Philip Davies have written to Leeds City Council about the issue.

But now he feels the historical evidence is one of their strongest arguments against the ban.

He said: "The tip was originally a project between Otley and Ilkley district councils for the benefit of people in Burley and Menston. It was always intended to be for the benefit of both areas."

Gerald Hodges, the former treasurer of the Ilkley urban district council, said both former councils had shared the cost of an incinerator at the site.

He said: "Before local government re-organisation in 1974 Ilkley and Otley both had refuse disposal problems. Ilkley's Sun Lane was contaminated and Otley was desperate for refuse disposal. So we had a joint scheme to build an incinerator at Ellar Ghyll.

"I don't know whether Otley had already bought the site but we had an arrangement where we would both pay for the incinerator."

"West Yorkshire County Council took over waste disposal on local government re-organisation in 1974 and they in their wisdom decided they didn't want the Ellar Ghyll incinerator.

In the re-organisation of 1986, the site was transferred to the control of Leeds city Council as it was within the old Otley area.

Mr Hodges, who is now 81 and still lives in Ilkley, said he didn't know whether the cost of purchasing the site had been shared between Ilkley and Otley, but he stressed that they had had financial input into the tip.

But he stressed: "Ilkley, Burley and Menston ratepayers helped to pay for this and I think they should be allowed to use it."