'˜Dangerous' flytipping debris closes Bedfordshire road for three days

A country lane was blocked for three days after an 'obscene' amount of waste - including a bath and a toilet - was dumped by selfish flytippers.

The huge mounds of rubble, thought to have been dumped by builders, were strewn across the rural road leaving no room for motorists to get by.

Cyclist Martin Galpin stumbled upon the debris on Saturday, but despite reporting it to the police straight away, it was still there three days later.

Martin, 29, a simulation software engineer for Red Bull, said: “If it had been dark it could have been fatal as there are no lights.

“Someone’s obviously renovating a house and they’ve left quite a lot of it here.

“The debris included door and window frames, bricks, paperwork and a duvet. It was obscene.”

The road in Houghton Conquest finally re-opened on Tuesday after council workers pushed the rubbish to the side of the road.

But shockingly, the waste will still not be cleared for a while until staff from another department at Central Bedfordshire Council are sent to sort it out.

It has since emerged two other areas nearby have been fly-tipped and police believe all the incidents are linked.

At least one other road user had already informed the police of the issue prior to Mr Galpin.

Janet Griffith, 72, who lives nearby said the issue is longstanding in the area.

She said: “I just can’t get my head around why people do it. People are so thoughtless.

“We’ve had the problem of people flytipping for years and it’s getting worse - but as far as I’m aware this is the first time it’s blocked the road.

“I was quite surprised it took the council so long to to clear it. If it’s still there at the side of the road it will be a bit of an eyesore.”

A spokeswoman for Central Bedfordshire Council said the area was cleared by workers on Tuesday and the waste would be removed at a later date.

Bedfordshire Police confirmed they were investigating.

Dumping waste illegally carries a fine of up to £50,000 or a prison sentence of up to five years.