Fly tippers condemned

SACKS full of household rubbish have been illegally dumped outside Broad Oak Village Hall near Heathfield for the second time in the last 12 months.

The bags were discovered in the recycling centre outside the village hall, and according to the chairman of the hall s management committee, Rosemary Thompson, the rubbish includes personal papers which identify the source.

We had the same problem last autumn, said Rosemary. Last time we found a TV licence reminder which told us where the rubbish had come from.

There s a tip only about 500 yards away from the village hall, and I would guess that it s more trouble to dump rubbish here than it is to take it up there.

If we take it that the address we found in these rubbish bags belongs to the person who dumped them, then they must have actually passed the tip to get here.

Last autumn the waste left outside the hall included storage heaters, a boiler and other broken items removed from a flat. The builder who dumped them was prosecuted by the Environment Agency (EA) and given 200 hours community service.

Apparently, he walked away from the court lifting two fingers up at the man from the EA, said Rosemary. The EA feels that magistrates are not interested, and seem to turn a blind eye.

I want to persuade magistrates to take this problem seriously, as fly tipping is a criminal offence.