'It's a disgrace': Ludlow car parks crammed with cardboard

A resident passing Ludlow's Smithfield car park, one of the main town car parks just outside of the centre, was so alarmed at mess piling up that he took a photo and sent it to Vivienne Parry, Shropshire Councillor for Ludlow South.

The sight of boxes and other rubbish being piled next to the recycling bins is becoming normal, Councillor Parry said, and was not confined to Smithfield.

She said the issue had worsened since the car park "bring bin" containers had been reduced as blue bags for kerbside collection had been introduced to the town for cardboard.

She said it had left those with items too big for the bags without anywhere to take them – though, she said, there was clearly an issue with businesses fly tipping next to the bins and hoping their waste would be collected with the recycling also. too.

She said: "It's a disgrace, I've never seen anything like it – and it's not just at Smithfield, I went to the Castle Street car park and it was just as bad there. There was even a mattress left there.

"And it's a good job I went down there in the morning before the In Bloom judges arrived on Wednesday, as it was all piling out of the bins on the day.

"People in the town are telling me that it's shops and small businesses. But with the bigger items, they have nowhere to take it, this is cardboard that won't fit in the blue bags for kerbside collection."

Paul Beard, waste manager at Shropshire Council said both the authority and its waste contractors were looking into the situation.

He said: “Veolia who manage waste services on behalf of the council, are aware of the situation at the bring banks on Smithfield Road. They have informed us that work is underway in addressing this issue."

Mark Hunter, collections manager at Veolia added: “The bring banks at Smithfield Road are for residents use only.

"It has come to our attention that commercial businesses are using the site to dispose of refuse and commercial packaging.

"Veolia are monitoring activity at the site, and looking at the waste to see if the cardboard has any identification marks on it. We have also increased the frequency of inspections to the site as well as increased the number of collections.

“Residents are reminded that they can use their new blue bag for disposing of their paper and cardboard. Any large cardboard which can't fit into the bag, can be neatly secured and left by the side of the bag,” he said.