MORE cases of fly-tipping have been spotted in Droitwich as residents say the issue is becoming an 'endemic'.
Shocking pictures show rubbish dumped in a country lane, just outside the town, including furniture and a kid's slide.
Clive Shearman, a member of The Droitwich Spa Litter Squad, discovered a large pile of rubbish dumped in Green Lane, Oddingley on Monday, October 11.
Mr Shearman said: "Due to the tanker fire I came to work via Green Lane, Oddingley and came across this. So sad as this is becoming an endemic and is blighting this beautiful county."
Meanwhile on Wednesday, October 13, four yellow tubs of oil were dumped in the grove of Alderbrook Road.
A post on social media showed the tubs left on a grass verge with their lids loosely fitted.
It isn't the first time that Mr Shearman has discovered an incident of fly-tipping.
In August, Mr Shearman, aided by members of the Wychavon District Council, cleared 450kg of rubbish that had been fly-tipped in Hay Lane, Shernal Green.
It took him and three other council workers an hour to shift the pile, discovered behind a hedge, into a truck for disposal.
But despite the increased sightings of fly-tipping, Mr Shearman has praised Wychavon District Council for their "superb" help in aiding The Droitwich Spa Litter Squad to keep the town clean.
However, he insisted that the issue isn't just limited to Droitwich, and that the rest of the county is being "blighted" by incidents of fly-tipping as well.
More than 10,000 fly-tipping incidents took place across West Mercia in the last year, a 6% increase on the previous year.
In Worcester alone, 341 fly-tipping incidents were reported to the City Council in 2019-20 – 43 more than the previous year.
A request for information put into Worcester City Council's civil enforcement team in August revealed that 63 fly-tipping cases had been investigated this year, and four fixed penalty notices had been issued as a result.
In September, The Police and Crime Commissioner for West Mercia, John-Paul Campion, announced that £100,000 of police funding would be made available to local authorities to help combat fly-tipping across the county.
Commissioner Campion said: "Fly-tipping is an issue which is more than just a nuisance. It’s hazardous to our environment and wildlife and has a substantial cost to landowners and communities. The public have raised concerns and I have taken action.
"Through my investment, and close work with the Community Safety Partnerships, I hope to reduce this detrimental impact, and empower landowners to protect their land from this blight on our countryside."
Organisations will now be able to apply for the funding via local Community Safety Partnerships, which will particularly focus on prevention schemes.
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