THOUSANDS of tonnes of household rubbish could be dumped at a site in Huddersfield.

A company is expected to get permission to re-open Lane Side Quarry in Kirkheaton as a landfill site – a decade after it was last used.

And this time, they are hopeful of having a licence to dispose of household waste as well as hardcore.

The Environment Agency have issued a draft permit to P Casey Enviro Ltd, of Rochdale, to use the site but have allowed a 30-day period forpublic comment.

In a report from the Environment Agency, Yorkshire area manager Craig McGarvey said there were wildlife concerns regarding the site.

He said: “In considering the application decision, we discovered that the site had become a habitat for Great Crested Newts.

“A programme of capture and relocations is ongoing, with new ponds being created and the area to the south of the site, which is a former brickworks, being restored.

“The amphibians are fully protected under European and UK wildlife legislation and in a 2004 survey more than 10,000 were found at the site along with smooth newts, common frogs and common toads.”

Mr McGarvey said that under the permit, the company would be able to accept various types of non-hazardous, industrial and commercial waste.

“The permit will also allow the storage/biological treatment of leachate arising from this waste and an inert and construction waste transfer station.”

This means that on-site facilities will include a treatment unit for any liquid produced from bio-degradable waste and a storage facility for any non-biodegradable waste.

In the 1800s and 1900s, the site was used to quarry fireclay, coal and later brick-making materials, produced by the former Elliott’s brickworks.