PILES of rubbish including asbestos have been dumped on a Worcester estate as the city and county council argue about how to solve the problem.

One city councillor has claimed the mound of rubbish left in Ronkswood proves fly-tipping has increased since Worcestershire County Council closed Bilford Road tip for 23 weeks.

The rubbish, including three black bin bags of asbestos, garden waste, furniture and fire extinguishers, was dumped just off Liverpool Road over the weekend.

But Worcestershire County Council claims the fly-tipping is caused by the city council's skip service, which visited Liverpool Road on Saturday.

Bilford Road Household Waste Site closed on Saturday, June 3, for 23 weeks while a major refurbishment is carried out.

Mike Layland, a city councillor for Ronkswood, said he was not surprised to see the latest waste dumped in his ward having warned that fly-tipping would increase because of the tip closure.

He said: "Everyone knew it would happen," he said.

Mike Harrison, head of environmental services at Worcester City Council, said: "These sites were only meant to be for local people, but because of the Bilford Road closure, they are being used by everyone. People just left their rubbish in the hope it would be picked up."

But Ian Holbrook, waste services manager for Worcestershire County Council, blamed the skip service for the fly-tipping and not the Bilford Road closure.

He said: "None of the materials is recycled. The provision of these skips is totally against what Worcestershire County Council is trying to achieve in terms of waste minimisation and recycling and indeed can often lead to an increase in flytipping by an irresponsible minority."

The county council is urging people to take their waste to sites at Hanbury near Droitwich, Hallow Road, St John's, Newlands in Malvern or Hill and Moor at Throckmorton.

l Worcester City Council provides skips on Saturday morning in two of the following areas: Gresham Road, Dines Green; Canada Way, Lower Wick; Brickfields Park; Waverley Street, Diglis; The Farmer's Boy, Tolladine; Shap Drive, Warndon and New Street car park, city centre. Rubbish can only be left during the allocated time.

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