Huge flytip of fridges and freezers at Longslade View car park in the New Forest

A MOUNTAIN of fridges and freezers dumped at a New Forest beauty spot has been condemned as "disgusting".

A total of 26 items were flytipped over the weekend at Longslade View car park, near Brockenhurst.

Among those who discovered the abandoned white goods was Cllr Andrew Gossage, from Pennington, who said: “It was quite a shock to discover it when my partner and I went to take a walk around 2pm on Sunday.

"There were about 20 fridges and freezers just lying there in a car park in the middle of the Forest, posing a danger to wildlife and livestock.

“You hear about small creatures getting trapped in things like this. It really was an awful thing to do and unpleasant for anyone passing it.

“It’s just a shame that people hand over good money to pay someone to collect something and a rogue trader just dumps it in the Forest."

“It was a very large flytip and it’s a terrible to see someone disrespecting the law in this way. I hope whoever left it there can be tracked down and properly dealt with.”

A spokesperson for Forestry England (FE) said it was investigating the incident which was reported on Monday.

She said: “Our team have inspected the waste, a total of 26 large fridges and freezers, and given the size of the items is arranging for these to be removed by a specialist service.”

She added that flytipping of any kind in the Forest is illegal and “unacceptable”, adding: “It poses major risks to wildlife and visitors and damages the landscape.”

A photo of the dumped goods was posted on social media prompting a raft of comments.

One said: “Disgusting behaviour.”

Another said: “We saw them yesterday when we took our dog there.”

One woman said: “Is this real? Unbelievable!”

People using waste carriers are asked to check they have the proper licence to carry out the collection. Checks can be made on a company or person to make sure they have one on the Defra website.

Customers could face an unlimited fine or up to five years in prison if their waste is flytipped by a third party and they are unable to show they took "reasonable steps" to prevent it.

Anyone with information about the Longslade View flytip is asked to contact FE on 0300 067 4601 or email southern.enquiries@forestryengland.uk