Tonnes of waste dumped at Shropshire estate
Tonnes of contaminated metal have been dumped on a Shropshire estate, costing the owners thousands of pounds to remove.
The 33 tonnes of rubbish included tainted oil and contaminated car parts. The clear-up operation at the Enville Estate, which extends to 6,500 acres and encompasses land on the Shropshire border near Bridgnorth, cost nearly £7,000.
Nina Ward, resident land agent at the Enville and Staylbridge Estates, today hit out at those using the countryside as a dumping ground.
She said: "Flytipping on the estate is a weekly occurrence and ranges from domestic waste, commercial waste such as tyres, asbestos and builders rubbish, to more recently remains of cannabis plants.
"This incident exceeded anything we've previously experienced, with locked gates being smashed and the dumped waste pre-sorted. It was quite a shock discovery and we've been left to pick up the bill."
The National Farmers Union says flytipping is costing Shropshire and the rest of the West Midlands millions of pounds but the figures do not account for rubbish dumped on land belonging to farmers and other private landowners. The NFU is also calling on its members to report incidents on private land to the union so a case can be made to Government for action.
NFU environmental policy adviser Sarah Faulkner, based at Telford, said: "Generally speaking, if you are the victim of a crime you are not expected to pay the criminal's costs – unless that is if you are a landowner and the victim of flytipping.
"Our members rightly feel they are the victims of this growing trend which costs them both time and money. It is incredibly unfair that the responsibility of clearing up after those who are flouting the law lies solely with landowners."
