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Waste site blocked off by fly-tippers

A mountain of rubble blocked off a South Staffordshire Road - after fly tippers struck overnight.

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A mountain of rubble blocked off a South Staffordshire Road - after fly tippers struck overnight.

An estimated 12 tonnes of rubbish was left – outside the entrance to Wombourne tip.

The three nine foot piles, including mattresses, building materials and household waste, was so massive the cleanup operation in Botterham Lane was expected to cost more than £2,500.

Today Terry Westward street cleaning supervisor of South Staffordshire Council, said it was the worst case of fly tipping he had ever come across.

He said: "I've never seen fly tipping on anything near this scale before. It defies belief.

"The load is an absolute mess, it will stay blocked for the rest of the day because that's how long cleaning it will take.

"It will cost easily within to the thousands to clear it all up. Just paying to dispose this amount of rubbish will cost at least £1,200, before you take into account costs like working hours.

"It is ironic it has been done outside a tip because the fact is this tip does not accept this kind of waste. It is for household rubbish only."

The waste centre was today closed until further notice. It is hoped it will open again tomorrow.

Malcolm Edwards of nearby Rookery Rise had to be turned away from the tip. The 65 year old retired BT worker said: "I was just taking some rubbish to the skip as I do every Friday and I could not believe what I was seeing. There's enough rubbish there to fill three or four skips. The piles were about nine foot high. It's so annoying, I don't know why anyone would do this, it inconveniences everybody else."

Workers have been sifting for clues as to who might have left the waste.

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