The chair of Patrick Commissioners says the amount of fly tipping occurring across the parish is ‘disappointing’.

Gordon Clague believes over the last few months there have been four instances of fridge freezers left at Niarbyl, along with windows, sofas and television sets in other locations.

Fly tipping is a criminal offence and those caught can receive a fine from £2,500 up to a maximum of £5,000.

‘It’s quite disappointing really, the amount of fly tipping we’ve had in the past 12 months,’ Mr Clague said.

‘Starting off early in the season, we had sofas dumped on the mountain, as well as various television sets and 15 tyres just dumped over in the heathland.

‘We’ve also had broken glass and window frames, as well as a number of freezers being dumped in the parish down at Niarbyl.

‘It’s just so disappointing as we have an amenity centre and a place to take them.’

Mr Clague says the local authority takes the problem ‘seriously’ and every incident is reported to the police.

‘For everything that’s tipped, police are informed and a report is done,’ he added. ‘They go out and examine it and see if there’s anything there.

‘Occasionally you might be lucky enough to find some kind of paper evidence with an invoice on, which has happened.

‘We’ve spoken to DEFA about the possibility of cameras to try and catch these people.

‘Once somebody is fined and prosecuted, and know we are on the case, they’ll realise that we are serious about it.

‘It’s got to stop because it’s ruining the countryside.

‘People work hard to keep the countryside like it is and an awful lot of people appreciate what we’ve got in the island. It just gets spoiled by these items that get left with no real regard to the countryside.’