Illegally dumped rotting waste near Telford rail track will cost thousands to clear

The piles, which were left there at some point towards the end of last year, would have taken dozens of lorry loads to drop off through a locked gate – the only access point to that point of the track.

The police and the Environment Agency are investigating to find out where it might have come from.

Simon Masters, a spokesman for Network Rail, said: "The clean-up will be undertaken by us, either directly or by a contractor carrying the work out on our behalf.

"I can't say exactly how much the clean-up will cost, but we know that it will cost tens of thousands of pounds."

The line of track is near a signal box run by Telford's Steam Railway, although the track itself is maintained by National Rail.

It is part of a section of track that the charity has been trying to acquire, and earlier this week chairman of the trust Paul Hughes spoke of the damage that amount of rubbish would have done to them if they'd been forced to pay for it. He said: "Network Rail will end up footing the bill for that, but it could have been us.

"We're trying to negotiate taking over that line, and it could have been us at the charity having to pay to tidy it up.

"This isn't a victimless crime. It would have been a significant amount of the charity's funds to clear it through as well."

This is just the latest of a number of large scale fly-tipping incidents in and around Telford over the last few months.

Police were called to an eight-tonne pile of rubble on Back Lane, Near Newport, on January 18.