Fly-tippers target canal one day after Wednesfield festival
Fly-tippers have again struck along a Wolverhampton canal towpath – less than half-a-mile from where thousands of people had spent the weekend enjoying an annual city waterways festival.
Just one day after the popular Wednesfield Canal Festival, held in the basin next to the Nickelodeon pub at Bentley Bridge on Saturday and Sunday, offenders ditched a pile of assorted junk – including a cooker and a pushchair – by the nearby Lichfield Road bridge.
The stretch of the Wyrley and Essington canal that was targeted is a designated nature reserve and wildlife habitat. It is frequently patrolled by a team of dedicated volunteers who carry out regular litter picks.
This latest incident of fly-tipping on the canal, which links Wednesfield with the city centre, is likely to both anger and sadden local conservationists and waterways bosses in equal measures.
Councillor Phil Bateman, who is one of the many organisers of the festival, said: “We have held the Wednesfield Canal Festival now for a number of years and it gets bigger and better each time. Every year’s festival has been fantastic and we’ve had a record overall attendance of thousands of visitors every time.
“It’s a fact that there continues to be these awful reports. It is a shocking indictment of modern living. A throwaway society that has no qualms about littering anywhere and everywhere.
“Sadly, I am faced with stories like this all the time. We are lucky in Wednesfield that many walkers litter pick to help our environment. Our canalside environment benefits from these ‘litter angels’.
“We have a fantastic canal. It’s got great wildlife and fantastic flowers and trees. It’s criminal that all this is being blighted by uncaring and criminal littering,” he added.
“Maybe someone out there has photographic or video clips of these unlawful litterers? If so they should take it to the police or the Canal & River Trust (CRT).”
Councillor Bateman said he had informed the council who would collect the fly-tipped goods, which are logged and electronically counted.
