TWO Suffolk councils face a claim from an East Anglian waste recycling company of more than £1.2 million.Solicitors acting for Anti-Waste Limited, of Bridgham, near Thetford, in Norfolk, have filed a writ in the High Court against Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council.

TWO Suffolk councils face a claim from an East Anglian waste recycling company of more than £1.2 million.

Solicitors acting for Anti-Waste Limited, of Bridgham, near Thetford, in Norfolk, have filed a writ in the High Court against Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council.

The writ claims £1,281,743.81 being the amount outstanding on invoices for the provision of waste recycling services at January 21 this year, when the writ was lodged with the court.

However, the solicitors make it clear that the amount allegedly owed by the two councils is still accruing.

Edward Bastow, managing director, of Anti-Waste Limited, has completed a statement for the High Court that says his company entered into a contract with Waveney District Council on August 29, 1997.

The contract made arrangements for recycling waste in a bid to reduce the amount of rubbish being buried in landfill sites.

Household waste collected by the district council in north Suffolk, including towns such as Halesworth, Southwold, Beccles, Bungay and Lowestoft, is taken to the Anti-Waste site at the South Lowestoft Industrial Estate.

Every load of waste is weighed when it arrives at the reclamation facility, sorted where "recyclables" are removed, and then weighed again.

In the statement Mr Bastow said 128,835.57 tonnes of waste were delivered to the reclamation facility between April 1, 1999, and December 30, 2001, by Waveney District Council.

This resulted in 40,280.78 tonnes of recyclable waste being recovered.

"The claimant (Anti-Waste Limited) has complied with its obligations in the contract in their entirety," said Mr Bastow in the statement.

The writ accuses Suffolk County Council of not making "statutory payments" to Waveney District Council in respect of any of the contract waste and thereby "inducing" the district council to breach its contract with Anti-Waste Limited.

"The second defendant (Suffolk County Council) has been aware that throughout the contract period, the claimant has been retaining the contract waste for recycling.

"The second defendant is therefore under a duty to make the statutory payments in respect of the contract waste and has failed to do so," said the statement.

The two councils confirmed that they had received a writ from Anti-Waste Limited.

Spokesmen for Waveney District Council and Suffolk County Council issued statements last night which said they would be defending the writ, but adding they could make no further comment at this stage.

Mr Bastow issued a short statement, which said: "Anti-Waste Limited have served a writ on Waveney District Council and Suffolk County Council essentially as a procedural matter.

"We are working with both councils to resolve the matter before the courts become further involved."