EU inspectors rap Italy as Naples drowns in trash

* EU inspectors say nothing has changed since 2008 crisis

* EU to freeze funds until proper waste plan in place

ROME, Nov 22 (Reuters) - EU inspectors touring the rubbish-strewn streets of Naples said on Monday that Italy had failed to make good on pledges to solve the city's chronic garbage crisis and warned EU funds would be frozen until it did.

More than 10,000 tonnes of trash have piled up in and around Italy's third biggest city as available dumps are near saturation point, and the only existing incinerator is still not working at full capacity.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's government was forced to scrap plans for a new landfill near Naples without an alternative solution after a month-long protest by residents complaining an existing site had led to a foul stench and toxic waste being dumped near their houses.

Berlusconi pledged last month to solve the latest emergency within days, but TV images of Neapolitans holding their noses or covering their faces as they walk past shoulder-high mounds of trash provide stark evidence the crisis has grown worse.

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