A security firm could be drafted in to beef up security at a tip in which staff have faced repeated abuse from yobs who are reluctant to pay drop-off fees.

Workers at Harrow Council's tip site in Forward Drive, Harrow are fed up after being subjected to violent threats by visitors to the tip who refuse to pay £220 per tonne of waste that they are looking to dispose of.

The council have even taken the unprecedented step this week of equipping staff with lapel cameras so they can record incidents which could aid prosecutions, and a council spokesman told the Observer the authority is willing to go even further and bring in a security firm which includes ex-military personnel to witness the violent behaviour of the tip's visitors should problems continue.

The string of incidents which have led to these extraordinary steps being taken include one driver claiming he had a shotgun which he intended to use on staff, and one thug even stripped to the waist, challenging a worker to a fight.

Councillor Susan Hall, the Conservative leader of Harrow Council and cabinet member for community safety and the environment, said: “It is utterly unacceptable that council staff who are doing their best to keep our recycling and waste service running are threatened and intimidated in this way.

"These people are trying to cheat their way out of paying a dumping fee, and that just isn’t fair on those who pay their way.”

Last year Harrow Council introduced 'a three-strikes and you're out' policy that means members of public who abuse regulations at the tip can be issued with 12-month banning notices.

If offenders ignore the banning notice, then the council’s anti-social behaviour unit would be able to go through the courts to seek an anti-social behaviour order.