COUNCIL chiefs in York are stepping up their controversial war on environmental crime, by bringing in tough, new front-line recruits.

City of York Council is looking to draft in two special enforcement officers who will track down and punish offenders across the city - and applicants have been told they must be skilled at handling confrontation.

The officers will be dedicated to fighting "enviro-crime" and will specialise in clamping down on litter-bugs, fly-tippers and vandals, and going through the rubbish of people who put their bin bags out early.

The council has advertised three new vacancies, at a total cost of between £62,000 and £77,000 a year, for officers who will impose on-the-spot fines, collate evidence and initiate legal action against offenders.

The job advert says they want "self-motivated officers who are able to handle confrontational situations."

The move today met with opposition from privacy campaigners and opposition politicians.

York MP Hugh Bayley said: "This is like Big Brother. People should cooperate by putting their rubbish out on the right day, but it's a step too far when council officials start rummaging through plastic bags to check who has put them out.

"If they suspect that somebody is putting out their rubbish early, they should knock on their door."

Phil Booth, of privacy group No2ID said: "If people have dumped stuff in the street, they have dumped stuff in the street, but you can go too far, and if they are spending £70,000 to £80,000 on this initiative, are there not better things they could be spending their money on?"

Gus Hosein, of campaign group Privacy International, said: "It's a very controversial technique. Going through rubbish is how identity thieves get access to information.

"It's very odd that the techniques criminals use are also to be used by councils."

But Andrew Waller, the council's environment boss, said: "In order to build on the improvements of York Pride this step will be valuable in having a dedicated team to follow up enforcement, and court action.

"It will show that the council is working hard with residents so that they can take a pride in their neighbourhoods, and tackle the small proportion of people who are causing problems at the moment."

He said the cost of the new posts was offset by the removal of several others, and savings made elsewhere in the department's budget.

The work being done by the new enforcement officers was previously done by environment officers. But the new employees shall work solely on enforcement, rather than education and community work.

The Press first reported last November that council officers had been given powers to rummage through householders' bin bags for personal details, if they were left out too early.

People can be fined for the offence if they have already been warned. A number of warning notices have been issues, but nobody has yet been caught re-offending.

The establishment of the new team follows an agreement last month to restructure the Neighbourhood Services.

Coun Waller said officers would have power to punish people who put rubbish out at the wrong time, but not people who put the wrong rubbish in their bins.