Fury at fly tipping at historic Oswaldtwistle nature reserve

This was the disgraceful mess found at Foxhill Bank Local Nature Reserve last weekend where people have been fly tipping rubbish, shockingly including items that appear to have sentimental value like photo albums and framed family pictures.

The nature reserve is managed by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust and is considered an urban gem, for its link to historic local fabric industry.

The former mill site is home to nine different habitats and is cherished by locals for the remarkable wildlife, so the lack of respect for the environment has angered local residents and regular visitors.

Photo of picture frames dumbed at nature reserve. Source: Facebook

People are assuming the original owner of the belongings are not the ones who are responsible for the fly-tipping, but who dumped the rubbish remains a mystery.

One person said: “Why would they throw pictures like that away. Might not have been these people who have dumped it.”

The woman who found the mess on Sunday, July 24, said: “I thought maybe they have paid someone to remove it and this is where they’ve dumped it!

"If that’s the case these people will know who it was they paid.”

Another angry person commented: “Looks like a house clearance? So many offer to do jobs like this and just dump stuff.”

Another photo of the fly-tipping.

Conservative Councillor and Environmental Services Cabinet member Steven Smithson reported the fly tipping to the waste department on Sunday.

He received a response from officers on Tuesday morning, advising they were going out to investigate and look for some evidence.

There is a vast amount of litter, and a lot of it has overspilled down the hill but the department aims to clear the rubbish by Thursday or Friday.

Cllr Smithson said: “We won’t be standing for fly tipping anymore and we’re going to be taking stronger action against fly tippers.

“Hopefully, we find some evidence for this so we can take the necessary strong action against those who did it.”