LANDFILL space at a site near Blue Circle Cement in Westbury is expected to run out by 2004, a spokesman for the Environment Agency said.

A report issued by the Agency says there is less than five years of landfill space left across the south west.

During 1998/9, 85 per cent of the region's eight million tonnes of waste was disposed of in landfill sites.

Government guidelines require this level to come down to 35 per cent in 20 years' time.

The Environment Agency has produced a set of strategic waste management assessments for ten planning regions.

Joe Field, for the Agency, said: "These SWMAs are the first of a series of initiatives we will be taking to help progress towards sustainable waste management."

Wiltshire County Council are currently working on producing a Waste Local Plan to deal with management of waste over the next ten years.

Public consultation on this issue was carried out in west Wiltshire between November 1999 and March 2000.

The Waste Local Plan Forum which grew out of this consultation has met six times since July.

It has 280 delegates from industry, environmental groups, parish and town councils and residents' associations.

They discuss all issues involved with waste management, including environmental impact, alternatives to landfill and cost.

They are due to pass their conclusions to the county council in March 2001.

These views, along with public opinion, will be taken into consideration by Wiltshire County Council in forming the Waste Local Plan.

A spokesman for the county council said: "Landfill is running out and we have to find alternatives. We're very much going to be promoting recycling and using landfill only as a very last resort."