A RISE in fly-tipping throughout the county has caused concern amongst residents who say it is ruining the countryside.

Several reports of rubbish being dumped have been made in the last week, including in Trowbridge and Bradford on Avon.

Trowbridge resident John Pratten said: “I was driving along the B3019 Frome Road towards Wingfield and noticed that the lay-by is full of rubbish.

“It looks like someone has just decided to dump a load of full bin liners.

“There is sign in the lay-by saying that there is CCTV in operation. I couldn’t see any camera there. When is this trashing of our countryside going to stop? Everywhere you drive these days there is rubbish thrown out of cars and vans.

“You so often see fast food cups and wrappers on the side of the road which have just been thrown out of someone’s car. It really has to stop. It is ruining our beautiful county.”

Concerns were also raised on a community web page for Bradford on Avon, where pictures of rubbish dumped along the canal towpath were posted.

The webpage suggests it may people on boats who leave their rubbish here as there is no where else to leave it.

The page said: “There are a small minority of boaters and boats that at times use the towpath as their extended dumping ground.

“I understand boaters need to make repairs, however, we have reached a point where it appears that this stretch of the canal, which is used by hundreds of local residents of Bradford on Avon and beyond, has now reached a tipping point.”

A spokesman from Wiltshire Council said: “The bin bags left on the side of the B3019 were from a Great British Spring Clean litter pick and will be collected.”

Mark Evans, waterways manager for the Canal & River Trust, said: “The Kennet & Avon Canal is not immune to the problem of litter and fly-tipping and we have been working with local boaters and volunteers to try and tackle this problem.

“Our waterways are fantastic places to visit throughout the year but the sight of litter along the towpath and floating in the canal can really put visitors off, make the canals look unloved and harm local wildlife. People living in in Bradford-on-Avon are really lucky to have a wonderful canal right on their doorstep and it’s important we all work together to ensure our waterways are welcoming places to come and relax and escape the hustle and bustle

“These people that dump rubbish on our waterways are criminals and left unchecked fly tipping would spoil our lovely canals and it needs to stop.

“There is no excuse for fly-tipping and I would urge anyone who see’s anyone acting suspiciously or chucking their rubbish onto the canal to report it to the local Police so that action can be taken.”