Brockadale Nature Reserve 'blighted' by fly-tipped tyres

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust said the fly-tipping of about 200 tyres was "extreme" and upsetting

About 1,000 tyres have been dumped in the grounds of a "beautiful" nature reserve in North Yorkshire.

Yorkshire Wildlife Trust (YWT) said the huge pile of rubbish had been left at the entrance to its Brockadale Nature Reserve during the week.

Resident Tony Fletcher, 77, who lives nearby in Little Smeaton, described it as "horrendous fly-tipping".

Selby District Council said it was "a really bad case of fly-tipping" on private land.

Brockadale Nature Reserve is described as "one of our most beautiful natures reserves in Yorkshire"

The reserve's grassland habitat "is now rare", say YWT

YWT said Brockadale, on Leys Lane, was "one of our most beautiful natures reserves in Yorkshire" containing semi-ancient woodland, scarce limestone grassland, flood meadow and river habitat.

"It's an isolated spot," said Ellie Barham, YWT's regional manager.

"We get a lot of fly-tipping here, but this is extreme.

"This is a real sanctuary for wildlife... so [it's] upsetting when this kind of thing happens.

"We're going to have to pay for it to be removed. We're a charity. We're not quite sure how we're going to deal with that, we may have to do an appeal."

Former policeman Tony Fletcher described the fly-tipping as "horrendous"

Mr Fletcher, a former police officer who has lived in the village for more than 35 years, said: "It's a terrible blight.

"I know there's fly-tipping everywhere, but we're getting a real bashing at the moment."

In a statement, the council said removal of the rubbish was the "responsibility of the landowner".

"We'll do all we can to help, of course, including reviewing any evidence of who did this.

"Clearing up fly-tipping costs both private landowners and councils a lot of money each year.

"It's something we're really focusing on at the moment - because we know it's something people care about in the places where they live. And rightly so - it's a blight on our beautiful countryside."