Witham Cemetery fly tippers will be 'hunted down' and prosecuted

The fly-tipped rubbish was cleared on Monday

A pile of fly-tipped waste has been removed from outside a cemetery.

The rubbish, including ventilation piping, wooden panels and domestic appliances, was found outside Witham Cemetery and was reported to Essex Police on Monday morning.

Braintree District Council staff have cleared the waste and were investigating.

Ross Playle, Conservative councillor for Witham Northern, said any fly-tipping was "disturbing and unsightly".

The mound of rubbish included cushions, drink cans and ventilation piping

"Rightly the community are unhappy about this, but obviously given the close proximity to the cemetery, this case is particularly upsetting," he told BBC Essex.

"What comes to mind is that Liam Neeson movie quote of we 'will hunt you down, we will find you' and if there is any indication as to who's left this, they can be assured that they will be punished."

Wendy Schmitt, Conservative cabinet member for climate change and the environment at Braintree, said the district council was "actively investigating".

There were 45,999 incidents of fly-tipping cleared by the 12 district councils in Essex between 2018-19 and 2021-22, costing more than £840,000 - according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.