A HOUSEHOLD waste dump in York has been closed following an assault on a staff member.

A Yorwaste employee at Beckfield Lane tip in Acomb is understood to have been punched in the head and chest at the site by an irate customer on Sunday.

City of York Council said today that it and site operators Yorwaste were deeply concerned that someone should have been attacked while carrying out their duties.

"The safety of those operating the site as well as those using it has to be the main priority," said a spokesman.

"As such, it will be necessary to close the site until satisfactory safety procedures can be

established."

He said the council and Yorwaste would seek to agree a safe system of work, and open the site again at the

earliest opportunity.

"In the interim period, however, anyone wanting to take

domestic rubbish to one of our sites should use those at either Foss Islands Road or at Moor Lane near Towthorpe."

This is not the first such incident at the dump, which was forced to close on weekday evenings last year after violent attacks by youths on staff. In one incident, a manager was threatened with a knife.

The council's Liberal Democrat leader, Coun Steve Galloway, said today that closing the site was not the answer.

"This is an extremely popular facility which is used legitimately by thousands of residents in Acomb," he said.

"If there is a need for proper security, the council will have to bite the bullet and provide it."

Sunday's incident came only a day after traffic chaos in Beckfield Lane when the site was closed down for health and safety reasons, and tip users queued outside.

The council said that because of the numbers trying to use the dump on a weekend, skips became completely filled by 11.30am, and it then became impossible to bring in large vehicles to empty them without health and safety risks.

"To avoid the potential for serious injury to members of the public, there was no alternative on Saturday other than to close the site."

Updated: 11:40 Tuesday, March 12, 2002