Bags of “extremely hazardous” waste dumped near a Shropshire brook could pollute the water stream for nearby cattle, it was claimed today.

Dusty Dovastan, from Rural Watch Shifnal and Albrighton, said he had been forced to warn farmers against allowing their cattle to drink from the water stream after bags of building and other waste have piled up on land near the Castle Farm Roundabout in Priorslee, Telford.

Mr Dovastan said the rain could carry the waste to the nearby Wesley Brook in Haughton Lane, near Shifnal, and contaminate the water.

Another incident of fly-tipping in the county has seen tins of car paint dumped on land belonging to the Bradford Estate off Offoxey Road, near Tong.

Gill Hooker, spokeswoman for the estate, said it would now cost more than £2,000 to remove the rubbish.

She said: “This money has to be paid by the land owner now.

“There is an awful lot of fly-tipping going on and it is annoying because no one ever sees the people who do it.”

Mr Dovastan said as well as being an eyesore, the dumped rubbish in Priorslee was an even bigger danger to public health.

He said: “This water course affects the animals’ drinking water and it also flows through the park where children have been playing in the stream. If it got into the water course it would be absolutely disastrous. It is going to cost hundreds, if not thousands, of pounds to clear up.”

He said dumped items included building materials, tyres, marked hazardous materials, painter and decorator rubbish, garden waste and other items.

He added: “The items down there are actually on the Environment Agency’s website as hazardous.”

These incidents of fly-tipping come on the back of figures revealed last week to show there were more than 5,000 fly-tipping incidents reported across Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin last year.

No one has been prosecuted in the county for the offences. However, 550 warning letters were issued by Telford & Wrekin Council to people believed to have committed an offence, with 230 being sent out by Shropshire Council.

By Jason Lavan