PEOPLE in Westwood are furious after fly-tippers who have plagued the area dumped even more rubbish in the village on Christmas Day.

There have been a number of incidents of fly-tipping in Westwood Road, between Westwood and Trowbridge, over the festive period, with furniture, rubbish and other litter being strewn across a gateway popular with the dumpers.

Roger Heard, from Westwood, spotted a three-piece suite and mattress dumped at the side of the road just over a week ago – then on Christmas Day he saw a large amount of wrapping paper and packaging had been added to the ever-growing pile of rubbish.

Mr Heard, 70, said: “It is a bit of an historic site for fly-tipping. I know they had recently cleared it but then someone dumped some tarpaulin there and on December 19 a three-piece suite was also dumped there.

"Then on Christmas Day we drove past to visit our son and on the way back a lot of wrapping paper and packaging had been left, so whoever it was must have just finished opening their presents and gone straight there to fly-tip the rubbish.”

Angry that the countryside is suffering, Mr Heard took pictures of the rubbish and sent them to Wiltshire Council, which has seen fly-tipping rise by 22 per cent this year.

“I think it is absolutely disgusting. It angers me a lot that people would do that. I have reported it to the council and sent them pictures through the website. The three-piece furniture is rather odd, so I am sure that someone will recognise it,” added Mr Heard.

John Pratten, another concerned resident, contacted the Wiltshire Times to say: “Makes you mad when the majority of us can take it to the tip. What makes these people so special they can’t drive another couple of miles to dispose of it correctly? Have they no pride in their country?”

Westwood was not the only area hit by fly-tippers over the festive weekend. A mattress, fridge and two armchairs were left in a layby on the A350 outside Beanacre, near Melksham.

Wiltshire Council said this week they had dealt with 660 incidents of fly-tipping between July-September, the latest figures available, and that this was on a par with the same period the previous year. During the financial year 2015/16 Wiltshire Council dealt with more than 2,700 reports of fly-tipping. Nationally, over the past two years, the number of reported incidents of fly-tipping has increased by more than 27 per cent.