Holton St Mary: Fly-tippers block road with dumped rubbish

The road was completely blocked with an estimated four skips-worth of household waste

A man who helped clear a country lane blocked by a huge pile of fly-tipped household rubbish said he was "absolutely gobsmacked" at the sight.

Bath tubs, fridges, vacuum cleaners and chairs were among the heap dumped in Sandpits Lane, Holton St Mary, Suffolk, in the early hours of Thursday.

Jason Alexander from social enterprise Rubbish Walks said council workers were on-site when he arrived at 09:00 BST.

It was the "single biggest single fly-tipping incident" he had come across.

At least two baths were included in the heap

Mr Alexander, 50, who set up Rubbish Walks to raise awareness of the impact of plastic waste and litter on the environment, helped the Babergh District Council workers clear the road.

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"They filled two trucks and we moved the rest to the side of the road so the traffic could come through," he said.

"I think there must have been at least four skips-worth, from a house clearance or maybe two."

There was more waste than could be carried by two trucks so the road was cleared and the council workers returned later to remove the rest

The rubbish appeared to have been fly-tipped overnight

Mr Alexander said they checked through the waste but were unable to find any indication of who was responsible.

He said: "Not enough people know that if they ask a company to clear their house they must ask to see their waste carrier licence.

"No legitimate company would fly-tip."

A council spokeswoman said: "We remain committed to tackling fly tipping in our district and aim to deal with any reports of this occurring on public land within 48 hours.

"We were made aware of an instance of fly-tipping blocking Sandpits Lane near East Bergholt and our team acted quickly to investigate and clear it."

She urged anyone using a third party to dispose of their waste, to "ensure they verify the waste carrier's licence".

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