Anger at Ludlow beauty spot fly-tippers

Shropshire Council contractors and community-spirited volunteers have cleaned up tonnes of fly-tipped building waste at Whitcliffe Common, overlooking Ludlow and the River Teme.

The wooded and grassy hillside is a popular walking spot with both visitors and residents, and is looked after by trustees and volunteers with the Friends of Whitcliffe Common group.

But members of the group were angered when they found the mess during a routine maintenance trip.

Rick Summers, Friends of Whitcliffe trustee and volunteer co-ordinator, said they were forced to break off what they had gone there to do to clear up the lorry load of rubble together with a the remains of a small tree that had been dumped at a layby above Lower Wood Road.

"The volunteers have their work cut out just keeping up with path clearing and other maintenance during the course of the year," he said.

"They put in more than 500 hours work annually and they can ill-afford extra time and effort clearing up after cowboy builders or whoever else has done this."

He urged people to keep an eye out and to help catch any fly-tippers.

"We would ask that anyone who sees people dumping rubbish – particularly from a vehicle – notes the number and if possible takes a photograph, without putting themselves in danger."

Kate Adams, Shropshire Council's streetscene manager for the south of the county, said council workers had also been involved in clearing up the huge fly-tipped mess.

She said: "Unfortunately, there was no evidence within the waste to identify its origin."

Kieren Bodill, of West Mercia Police, added: "Those who do not dispose of waste material through the proper methods should be warned that fly-tipping of waste is illegal and constitutes a serious offence for which a person can be prosecuted."