Cyclist slams fly-tippers ‘ruining beautiful Peak District countryside’ as they dump rubbish along scenic routes

On January 30, Zoe Hunter was cycling along Fox Lane between Cordwell and Baslow – entering the Peak District National Park along the way.

She said, however, that the usually scenic route had been targeted by fly-tippers – with rubbish dumped at several points along a four-mile stretch of the road.

“There was a whole slew of fly-tipping which consists of old tyres, inner tubes and what looks like old asbestos roof sheeting.

“This had clearly been dumped from a moving vehicle as its stretches along about three to four miles of the road.”

Zoe said that fly-tipping has become a regular occurrence across Derbyshire, spotting similar piles of rubbish while on her travels.

She shared photos of fly-tipping close to Owler Bar in North-East Derbyshire, as well as litter dumped on Syda Lane, near Holymoorside. These were both taken while Zoe was cycling through Derbyshire last year.

She added that this kind of behaviour ruins many beautiful parts of the county – and that the punishments do little to deter offenders from dumping their rubbish.

“As someone who has travelled around various European countries, we certainly are the dirtiest when it comes to discarded litter and garbage.

“The volume of rubbish I see on these verges, in what should be a lovely prized location, is disgusting – but unfortunately, people ruin it by doing this.

“Something does need doing about this – it’s sadly blighting what should be a beautiful countryside. I don’t think the deterrent is there, with the weak punishment they get when they’re caught, and the fines they get rarely cover the cost of the clean up, so taxpayers lose out there.”

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North East Derbyshire District Council confirmed that the fly-tipping along Fox Lane had been cleared. Cllr Charlotte Cupit, cabinet member for environmental services, said: “We take every instance of fly-tipping incredibly seriously and our environmental health and streetscene teams have been working hard to deter fly-tippers in our District.

“As some examples, we have introduced robust measures to crack down on criminals who blight our beautiful district by doubling our fly-tipping fines to the national maximum of £400, as well as investing in surveillance equipment and new signage.

“Through our investigations we’ve recently successfully prosecuted and crushed the vehicle of a fly tipper and, as a result of a significant investment in our environmental health service over recent years, last year we carried out more patrols and issued more fixed penalties than any year previously.

“We know any amount of fly-tipping is still too much but there was a 37% reduction in reports last year compared to the previous year, suggesting our responses to this issue are having some success. We would urge anyone who sees fly-tipping to contact us and report it online via our website, so we can investigate, clear it up and where possible, prosecute the criminals undertaking this despicable behaviour.”