ANGRY residents today hit out at an environmental body for turning land overlooked by their Burnley homes into a tip.

Residents of Dorset Street claim British Waterways is failing in its duty to maintain Dugdale Wharf, off Liverpool Road, by dumping rubbish dredged from the Leeds to Liverpool canal at the site.

Chairman of Rosegrove Action Group Brian Parkinson said British Waterways, which own the land, is supposed to take rubbish away every month.

But, today both British Waterways and Burnley Council, which has a skip at the site for boaters' rubbish, denied responsibility for the mess.

Mr Parkinson claimed barges, shopping trolleys and road work boards had been left at the site for up to 12 months. He said: "It's an absolute tip.

"They are supposed to store things in the skip for a month then move it but there is rubbish which has been there for at least 12 months They get stuff out of the canal and dump it there. We call it the grot spot of the grove."

Mr Parkinson said residents had complained to the public body, responsible for the maintenance of more than 2,000 miles of the nation's waterways, but it had not taken action.

Now he has called on British Waterways to regularly maintain the land or people will not buy new homes planned for land by the former Imperial and Empire mills.

He added: "In the past we have told them about it but it has fallen on deaf ears.

"We want them to come and tidy it up once a month.

"There are about 20 houses on that row and when the new houses are built it could affect them.

"People are not going to buy them, they'll think it's a tip."

Helen Hall, spokeswoman for British Waterways, said one of the skips on the site was for its workers and the other, emptied by Burnley Council, was for boaters.

She said: "That has not been emptied because of the Christmas period but it will be looked at."

A spokesman for Burnley Council said its skip was emptied every Thursday by contractors Biffa which had not missed a collection.

He said: "If there is a problem with the other skip, there isn't anything we can do about it and the matter needs to be taken up by British Waterways."