What a mess: Look what's been dumped around the canals of the Black Country

The Canal and River Trust has revealed the issue across the region, and Birmingham, is costing more than £100,000 to tackle.

Today the trust is calling for help from the public to clamp down on the illegal fly-tipping.

Bosses want people to report incidents when they see them.

They say the items left on towpaths across the West Midlands include hundreds of car tyres, household rubbish, traffic cones and fence panels.

In addition to the dangers fly tipping poses to people and the cost involved in clearing it, the trust is also concerned about the impact it could have on the huge array of wildlife such as otters, water voles and kingfishers that make their homes along the waterways.

Earlier this year, rubbish was pictured left on the Jibbet Lane Canal Bridge in Ettingshall.

In July, a minibus was dumped into the Wednesbury Oak Loop canal at the rear of Crane Road canal.

And last month, car thieves dumped a car in the Wyrley and Essington Canal in Wednesfield.

Samantha Bucknall, spokesman for the Canal and Trust, says: "It's got to the stage where enough is enough, this rubbish is someone else's legal responsibility.

"The money that we have to spend clearing up other people's rubbish is money that could be much better spent caring for our beautiful waterways, improving habitats for wildlife and protecting our wonderful canals for local people and visitors to enjoy.

"Fly tippers are criminals so we wouldn't encourage people to approach them directly but if they have any information then we would urge them to pass it on to West Midlands Police so that it can be investigated.

"With help from the local community we can put an end to this dangerous and

irresponsible activity which damages the local environment, prevents people from being able to enjoy their local waterways and wastes money which could otherwise be spent improving canals in the area".

Peter Mathews CMG, chairman of the West Midlands Waterways Partnership, said: "Left unchecked fly tipping would spoil our lovely canals and it needs to stop.

"There is no excuse for fly tipping and I would urge anyone who see's anyone acting suspiciously or chucking their rubbish onto the canal to report it so that action can be taken."

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence that can attract an unlimited fine and up to five years imprisonment.

In 2014/15 there were 1,810 prosecutions against waste offenders in England and over 98 per cent of fly-tipping incidents that resulted in a conviction or fine.

The Canal & River Trust is the guardian of 2,000 miles of historic waterways across England and Wales, caring for the nation's third largest collection of listed structures, as well as museums, archives, and hundreds of important wildlife sites.