Fly-tip 'blight' takes three days and £4,000 to clear up

A MAJOR operation to clear a large fly-tip in Calshot, which included a haul of white goods, cost £4,000 in taxpayers’ money.

The dump on land to the rear of Tristan Close has only recently been removed from land to the rear of Tristan Close over a three-day period after New Forest District Council was alerted to it on 31st March.

As reported in the A&T, NFDC and the police have been carrying out a joint investigation to establish who was responsible for the offence.

Urging people to come forward if they can help, a council spokesperson revealed it the waste weighed a total of six tonnes and partly consisted of 13 fridges and two washing machines.

There was also over 40 vehicle tyres, as well as a vacuum cleaner and various large pieces of wood and plastic.

The clear-up was delayed as the council installed fencing and a large mound of earth in a bid to prevent further fly-tipping at the site. It was finally carried out from last Wednesday to Friday.

A post on the NFDC Twitter page afterwards said: “It cost a staggering £4k in staff, digger, & disposal costs.”

Colin Read, the authority’s executive head of operations and deputy chief executive, condemned the offenders.

He commented: “Fly-tipping on this scale does not happen very often, but when it does it is very disappointing as not only does it cost the New Forest taxpayer a huge amount of money to clear and dispose of correctly, it is also a blight on the very special area that we live in.

“All businesses and householders are responsible for checking that the company or individual who is offering to take their waste has a waste carrier's licence.”

Anyone with information about who is responsible for this or any other fly-tipping incident is asked to contact NFDC on 023 8028 5000.