Fly-tippers turn fields into giant wasteland

FLY-TIPPERS have turned fields beside a popular nature reserve into a giant waste dump in the space of a week.

Plastic furniture, old computers, televisions, books, clothes and even two pool tables have been piled up outside the Straiton wildlife park near Loanhead.

Countryside rangers have struggled to keep on top of the rubbish left beside the road into the park in the past.

But over the past seven days the problem has mushroomed to the point where the fields now look like a landfill site.

Piles of debris and binbags bursting with litter have been strewn along several hundred metres of field leading up to the park.

There are now fears the problem will become impossible to control as word spreads about the "unofficial tip".

Jo Rockingham, a countryside ranger at Straiton Nature Reserve, said: "It's been an ongoing problem, but it's just got dramatically worse in the last week. It's mainly household waste.

"A lot of animals will forage among the rubbish, such as birds, foxes and badgers, and it could be very harmful to them.

"We have had problems with travellers using the site, and using the nature reserve as a toilet. They set a precedent and dumped a lot of stuff."

The fields lie beside the Eskfield Industrial Estate alongside the access road to the nature reserve, which is a popular destination for school trips.

Residents said workmen had started using the site to off-load their rubbish as well.

Madeline Black, a finance administrator who lives in Mayburn Terrace, overlooking the fields, said it looked like "lorry loads of household waste" had been dumped in recent days.

She said: "The litter and tipping is out of control. There's TVs, computers, clothes, books, records and a couple of pool tables.

"People are sick to the back teeth with the state of the place. It won't take long for this area to be established as a cheap landfill alternative on the fly-tippers' map.

"This is next to Straiton Nature Reserve where school kids are being shown around regularly. I really don't want to think what sort of impact it is having on the animals that live there."

Jeff Stoddart, 52, of Loanhead Farm, who recently gave up the lease on the field, said he had seen vans emptying rubbish there and described the situation as a "nightmare".

He said: "One of the problems is the access. It's a right of way so they can't shut it, but it should be shut for vehicles.

"It's 'fly-by-night' contractors who work for a few weeks and leave all their rubbish. It's not local people."

Councillor Derek Milligan, the councillor responsible for Midlothian Council's commercial services, said the local authority was contacting the landowners to ask them to clear up the rubbish.

He said: " It looks quite dire. It spoils a very lovely area. It's very selfish of people, when they could drive a few miles further to the council site at Penicuik.

"We don't know if it's individuals using it as a dumping ground or businesses. The council can arrange a free pick-up service for most household goods."

Fly-tippers can face up to six months in prison or a fine of up to £40,000 under the Environmental Protection Act.

The developers Landsdowne Holdings Ltd and Peregrine Edinburgh Ltd, who own the fields, could not be reached for comment.