‘Attitude change’ needed to help prevent fly-tipping after villages are targeted

Fly-tipping found by Cllr Jonathan Gray (Image: Archant)

The ford between the A1 and the village had to be closed on April 28) after piles of rubbish appeared at the crossing overnight.

The dumped items - which included bins, boxes and bed sheets - were abandoned by what council officials believe to be a house clearance team.

Councillor Tony Baker, member for highways on Hail Weston Parish Council, said: “There has been a few incidents where there has been a lot of rubbish down by the ford side of the road.

“Down there you can hear or see if anybody is coming so those doing it can’t be spotted.”

Following the incident the Environment Agency was called to the ford to determine whether the waste was a potential harm to the river.

Cllr Baker believes the incident may have been premediated rather than accidental

“It seems a vehicle decided to dispose of what appears to be some house clearance items and put them in the middle of the ford,” Cllr Baker said. “What drives people to do that, why would they think of tipping it there. Maybe they felt that if they were going to take it to the St Neots recycling centre they might charged for it.”

Despite the ongoing problem, Cllr Baker has said cameras at the ford are not the answer to the problem but instead attitudes need to change.

“What we need to do is to find out how we stop people feeling they need to fly tip,” added Cllr Baker.

The rubbish was cleared up by Huntingdonshire District Council workers on Saturday afternoon.

In a separate incident, just two days later, a heap of wood cuttings and branches was dumped a stretch of road between Tillbrook Grange, Catworth, and Covington.

The rubbish was dumped on the side of the road and later spotted by Huntingdonshire District Council member Jonathan Gray, and was reported to the authority.