Huge pile of rubbish bags dumped near Shifnal

Dozens of bags of household rubbish, plastics and garden clippings were dumped on a country road near Shifnal, blocking the route for motorists..

It's the latest in a chain of large scale fly tipping incidents in and around Shropshire – and those involved in monitoring said the number is on the rise.

This latest mess was dumped yesterday on an unnamed road near the M54.

It was dumped in a secluded location off the side of the single track carriageway in the middle of the night.

The incident was phoned into police and Shropshire Council by a member of the nearby rural watch, who asked not to be named.

He said: "We've had a lot of big fly tipping incidents around here over the last few years, and even more small ones. There's always quite a bit going on and the number is on the rise.

"We're getting it all the while. The message I'm sending out to farmer members across Shropshire, from Market Drayton to Cleobury Mortimer, close your gates and lock them. Keep the fly tippers out.

"I'm doing about 30 hours a week here, and it makes me very angry that people think it's okay to do this.

"There's more down the road – there's nail, boards and everything in that one. It'll absolutely have an impact on the local wildlife. These people want to pick it up, dump it and get out of there – there's money in their pocket and that's it. They have no interest in the environment."

He said that part of the issue was the cost to take things to the tip.

"You go into the tips and if you're in a car and you've got a little bit in the back, it's free.

"But when you've got a trailer, van or a small pick-up, you've got to pay. These people don't want to be paying out, so they dump it. They couldn't care less about anything else."

Kate Adams, Shropshire Council’s streetscene manager – south, said: “A Shropshire Council officer has gone out to check the exact location. If it is within the Shropshire Council area, it will be a cleared up by our waste contractors Veolia on our behalf, and we will search through the waste for any evidence of origin. We hope to have the waste cleared by the end of this week.

“The origin of the waste will be investigated as far as possible, dependent on the type of waste within the pile of bags and any evidence which is found.

“Should anyone have witnessed this waste being dumped we would be very pleased to hear from them with any relevant information they may be able to provide.”

It follows tonnes of semi-processed rubbish dumped on an disused railway line near Horsehay.

Network Rail was left with the bill to clean up the mountains of rubbish, which it said would cost "five figures" to clear.