Environmental health officials have promised to meet local residents amid concerns that a former landfill site near their homes could be causing a cluster of cancer cases.

Batman's Hill and Weddell Wynd in Bradley, Wolverhampton, was previously used as a dumping ground until it was turfed over to make a playing field more than ten years ago.

Locals claimed it could be responsible for high levels of ill-ness, however, after 22 people living in 55 houses on nearby Humphries Crescent were found to have contracted various forms of cancer.

Other incidences were reported elsewhere on the Rocket Pool and Weddell Wynd estates. Eighteen people, from children to pensioners, are said to have died from the disease.

Officials at Sandwell Council, which is partly responsible for the area, said experts had investigated the concerns and neighbouring Wolverhampton City Council had commissioned similar work on adjacent land in 2001. "No evidence of any cancer cluster was found," said a spokesman.