Violence flares up at Naples dump

Protesters have clashed again with Italian police in the city of Naples in a dispute over rubbish disposal.

The protesters in the suburb of Pianura are blocking access to an old rubbish dump which city officials want to reopen as landfill sites are full.

There have been no waste collections for more than two weeks in Naples and more than 100,000 tonnes of rubbish lies rotting in the streets.

Italy's PM Romano Prodi has promised a "radical" solution within 24 hours.

Protesters in Pianura erected makeshift barricades with metal fences and rubbish bins to prevent police reaching the landfill site. There have been repeated clashes at the site in the past few days.

On Monday the Italian army cleared some of the stinking rubbish from around schools in Naples.

Prime Minister Prodi chaired an emergency government meeting on Monday to find a solution to the crisis.

"Within 24 hours we will be ready to confront the situation radically," said a government spokesman.

With nowhere to put the rubbish, local people have been burning it.