Frustration at growing fly-tipping problem

Contractors are currently working to remove the rubbish at Forthampton

A huge pile of about 25-tonnes of ground-up car parts dumped in a country lane has been cleared, with local residents saying fly-tipping in the area is getting worse.

The waste, believed to have been fly-tipped in the early hours of Thursday, blocked a road leading into Forthampton, Gloucestershire, off the A438.

One man who lives nearby said illegal dumping was regularly forcing drivers to take long detours.

The road reopened on Tuesday after contractors for Tewkesbury Borough Council cleared the pile. The council said it currently had "no evidence" of who was responsible and urged anyone with information to get in touch.

Peter Tonge, director of communities at Tewkesbury Borough Council, said it was estimated the dumped waste weighed between 20 and 25 tonnes.

"It's amongst the biggest that we have in the area," he said.

Mr Tonge said the fly-tip seemed to mostly contain ground-up car parts.

However, it was still unclear who dumped the waste there, he said, adding that unless anyone came forward who had seen the vehicle it was unlikely the council would be able to track down the culprits.

One resident, who asked not to be named, said while the pile dumped on Ledbury Road was unusual for its size, rubbish was regularly tipped on grass verges and in gateways in the area.

Sometimes, locals needed to take diversions of "up to three miles" due to fly-tipping, he said.

He added there were often delays to waste being cleared because of confusion over the boundary lines between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire, and who was responsible for cleaning up.

The resident added he was "a bit disgusted" that it had taken so long for the rubbish to be cleared.

Fly-tipping is blighting the area, residents say

The resident added that he feared unexpected road closures put residents of Forthampton at greater risk because it delayed emergency vehicles reaching them.

"I'm aware that the emergency service have been notified of updates that the roads are being closed, but every minute counts."

He also said polluted rainwater running off the pile of rubbish was flowing straight into nearby Paradise Brook.

Sam Snape, landlady of the Lower Lode Inn, said she had lost business over the past week due to people being unable to access her pub.

"It's awful. It's massively inconvenienced the village and anybody that wants to pass through it," she said.

"It's awful that somebody has done that and hopefully it won't happen again.

"But if somebody's done it once, they might do it in other places."

'Bit naughty'

Jo Greenwood, of Greenwood's Therapeutic Horticulture, said it was frustrating no-one ever seemed to see the perpetrators.

"There's been a lot of fly-tipping recently in the area," she said.

"I just can't see how nobody has seen anything - they've got to be coming in big trucks."

She added: "The worst thing is people from the local community are taking their rubbish and dumping it on top of it, which is a bit naughty."

Mr Tonge urged anyone with information about who dumped the waste to get in touch with the council.