At least two dozen children now aged between 5 and 17 whose mothers lived in or visited homes close to a toxic dump in Corby, Northamptonshire, since the mid-80s, have been born with missing or webbed fingers.

The genetic mutation has appeared in newborn children at up to 15 times the national average and parents blame contamination during a toxic waste clean-up. Some of the children are developing further complications as the get older, including heart defects, eye problems and skin defects.

The clean up of heavy metals and other poisonous chemicals on the former British Steel site in East Corby was bedevilled with problems from the start, including spilled toxic waste on local roads and fly-tippers tramping toxic sludge out of the site on their shoes.

From the outset the Environment Agency voiced doubts about the council's ability to do the work and, once it was under way, there were serious concerns about the way it was carried out. The council's own auditor wrote a damning report in 1996 complaining of incompetence, negligence and ignorance and said there was a cavalier approach to the operation. Lawyers representing the families have been leaked a document suggesting senior officials discussed concealing blunders.

The memorandum from the principal auditor in 1997 was written after complaints about safety standards by a consultant engineer.

The auditor asked "If it is kept 'under wraps' how can the matter be actioned?".

'He just gets on with things'

SIMPLE everyday tasks that most children learn almost without thinking are serious hurdles for children such as Curtis Thorpe who have only one hand.

The eight-year-old boy regards his missing right hand as just the luck of the draw. His mother, Mandy, said "He had to learn to write left handed. Opening packets is difficult and he's had three operations. But he is a feisty little character. He just gets on with things".

Many mothers blame toxic waste from the former British Steel base for their sons' deformity, but Mrs Thorpe wants an apology from Corby Borough Council more than any compensation and has been angered by what she sees as "stonewalling" by officials who refuse to accept a link between the waste and Curtis's missing hand.