Volunteer Immingham cleaners banned from taking waste to tip

Frank Sparkes has been cleaning waste from North East Lincolnshire for more than 25 years

A volunteer who has spent 25 years cleaning up rubbish from his community has now been told he cannot dispose of it at his local tip.

Earlier this year Frank Sparkes, 76, was given an award by North East Lincolnshire Council but the authority has now said the items are classed as commercial waste.

Mr Sparkes described the council's decision as a "slap in the face".

The authority said it was following national rules.

Mr Sparkes said he had been told the waste would have to be taken to a specialist site around 30 miles away and he would have to pay for it to be disposed of.

Bemoaning the council's decision, Mr Sparkes said there was "too much red tape" when he tried to dispose of larger fly-tipped items.

"We can't take it, it's down as commercial waste," he told BBC Look North.

"All we can take is small stuff to the local tips in Grimsby or Immingham."

Mr Sparkes, who initially spoke to the Grimsby Telegraph, said he felt "very, very upset, especially winning an award."

He and a team of volunteers have worked to keep the area around Immingham's North Wall sea defences tidy, since signing up to a temporary project in 1998.

Mr Sparkes said the area was plagued by fly-tippers who dumped rubbish under the cover of darkness.

He is hoping to continue his work by hiring private skips to dispose of the waste and has set up an online funding page to pay towards the costs.

Mr Sparkes was given a civic award by North East Lincolnshire Council

North East Lincolnshire Council said it was "happy to speak with Frank and look at how we can work together to resolve this".

"Frank does a great job getting rid of litter and we really appreciate the time and effort he puts in to making the borough a better place," the council said.

"Under the rules, fly-tipped and commercial waste is treated differently to litter and we need to make sure we all abide by the legislation."