Fury as selfish fly-tippers dump waste on secluded Wigan lane

Any hopes the new year might lead to offenders turning over a new leaf were quickly dashed by the discovery of piles of abandoned waste in Ince.

Other news: Anger in Wigan community as off-road vehicles wreck RecLarge appliances, a fan and piles of materials were among the items dumped on a quiet side road just off Ince Hall Avenue.

Local wildlife enthusiast and keen photographer Steve Heaton, who regularly submits images of fly-tipping to this newspaper, once again slammed the selfish individuals responsible.

He was particularly angry that greenery in the area also appears to have been wantonly damaged by offenders.

Mr Heaton also said the incident was particularly baffling given how close the huge waste disposal and recycling facility at Kirkless is.

He said: “Once again the side road off Ince Hall Avenue has been used as a fly-tipping dump. It looks as those responsible have even cut one or two trees down in the process.

“It’s not a sight anyone out enjoying the countryside wants to see.

“What beats me is the recycling place is less than five minutes away at the top of Makerfield Way.

“Why can’t they do the decent thing and take it there? Instead the lazy fly-tipping scum would rather dump it in our countryside and spoil it for everyone else.”

The rubbish has been dumped at an extremely secluded location out of sight of any main roads or properties but the route is used by vehicles from the Canal and River Trust (CRT) going to do maintenance at the waterway.

Wigan Council said fly-tippers were breaking the law and encouraged residents to do their bit to shop offenders.

Paul Barton, the town hall’s director for environment, said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal offence, blights our environment and is expensive to clean up.

“By residents not fly-tipping and recycling their waste correctly it helps us to keep council tax low.

“Our new environmental education and enforcement team is now operational seven days a week and works with residents to tackle all types of environmental crime, ensuring we have clean and tidy communities.

“As part of The Deal it is vital that residents support us with this issue and we encourage anybody who witnesses fly-tipping to send us as much information about the perpetrator, including vehicle registration or a home address where possible, so we can take action.”

To report an incident of environmental crime such as fly-tipping or dog fouling visit www.wigan.gov.uk/reportit or download the council’s ReportIt app.