COUNCILLORS in Haydon Wick have spoken out against the recent spate of littering and fly-tipping that has blighted the parish.

At a meeting on Tuesday night, councillors damned the “unacceptable” behaviour and suggested ways it could be tackled.

There have been various reports of extensive fly-tipping over the Christmas period and residents have spoken to councillors about their concerns.

Coun Dave Smith said: “Since Christmas I have been walking around the northern part of the parish – around the Moredon Park and Purton Road area – and I have filled up five bags of litter. There doesn’t seem to be many bins to put the litter in.

“I have been asked by people if we are ever going to get any bins because there seems to be an increase in littering. It’s as if people just couldn’t care less because there’s nowhere to put anything.”

Coun Smith was assured by clerk Terry Powell that over the last four months the Moredon area has seen 20 new bins installed.

A concerned Coun Damon Bower described fly-tipping “on a huge scale” in one particular layby in Tadpole Lane, just after the turnoff towards Tadpole Farm.

He said: “The rubbish dumped there just before Christmas was the worst we have ever had. It’s not acceptable. It’s a criminal offence punishable with a hefty fine and/or imprisonment.

“I believe it took almost a day to get rid of it in the end, which is a huge amount of resources to use all at one go.

“Unfortunately fly-tipping has become a repeated sight now. At the end of the day, it costs the parish money to clean up which means residents have to pay for it. It’s costing everybody.”

In seeking to address the problem, councillors suggested installing CCTV cameras in certain hotspots as a preventative measure.

Mr Powell, however, pointed to a few difficulties councillors may face in opting for cameras.

He said: “Home office rules on CCTV for evidence purposes are very strict. They even go as far as how you can store the actual recordings so they can be used as evidence. If there is any chance of them being tampered with, a third rate lawyer would throw them out in court. Plus, you have to put up clear signs telling people there is CCTV surveillance going on.”

The need to “nip it in the bud”, as Coun Bower said, was repeatedly stressed as the parish was seeing serious fly-tipping incidents a couple of times a month.

Coun Bower added: “Can we look at having a warning notice put up at fly-tipping hotspots warning people of the dangers of being caught fly-tipping? Even if we don’t have cameras?”