By . Ben Spencer . Littering and fly tipping has cost the Woodland Trust over £500,000 in the past four years (library image) Burned out cars, a dead horse and an entire fitted kitchen are some of the items recently dumped in British woodlands, a conservation charity has revealed. Clearing up fly tipping and littering in forests has cost more than half a million pounds in the past four years, according to the Woodland Trust. The charity said that at one site in Cumbria, it had been forced to clear up 100 bags of rubbish and items including a car seat, a space hopper, a pram, a door, two mountain bikes, and eight musical drums since last summer. At woods in Ambergate, Derbyshire, an entire bulk bag of pornographic magazines had been dumped. Illegal fly tipping cost the charity £90,000 in clean-up costs in the past four years, while picking up litter at its 1,200 woods across the UK cost more than £430,000. Littering not only diverts money from caring for woodlands to clear-up work, it also damages wildlife, the Woodland Trust said. The report, released to mark the International Day of Forests today, calls for stronger deterrents for fly tipping. The charity, which owns and manages 1,200 woodlands covering 20,000 hectares, has recorded dozens of incidents of fly tipping across its estates. Discarded rubbish includes burned-out cars, a caravan, mattresses, animal carcasses and chemical waste. Norman Starks, Woodland Trust UK operations director, said: ‘Not only is fly tipping illegal, costing us tens of thousands of pounds which could be spent on caring for woods, but it provides a real danger to our native flora and fauna. ‘Trees are facing an unprecedented level of threat from disease, pests and development and we need people to help protect them, rather than add to this threat. ‘We cannot assume trees and woods will be around forever if we keep treating them this way.’ He added: ‘It’s also important to remember that ‘natural’ litter such as dead wood is a unique habitat for a large number of wildlife species so if people come across fallen timber when visiting a wood, please leave it where it lies.’ A selection of items, such as pornographic magazines, car seats and bags and bags of rubbish were found at sites across the country, the charity said (library image)
Fly tipping and littering in forests cost half a million pounds in four years .
Woodland Trust said 100 bags of rubbish cleared from one Cumbria site .
Bulk bag of pornographic magazines dumped at Woods in Derbyshire .
Charity is now calling for stronger deterrents for fly tipping .
By . Ben Spencer . Littering and fly tipping has cost the Woodland Trust over £500,000 in the past four years (library image) Burned out cars, a dead horse and an entire fitted kitchen are some of the items recently dumped in British woodlands, a conservation charity has revealed. Clearing up fly tipping and littering in forests has cost more than half a million pounds in the past four years, according to the Woodland Trust. The charity said that at one site in Cumbria, it had been forced to clear up 100 bags of rubbish and items including a car seat, a space hopper, a pram, a door, two mountain bikes, and eight musical drums since last summer. At woods in Ambergate, Derbyshire, an entire bulk bag of pornographic magazines had been dumped. Illegal fly tipping cost the charity £90,000 in clean-up costs in the past four years, while picking up litter at its 1,200 woods across the UK cost more than £430,000. Littering not only diverts money from caring for woodlands to clear-up work, it also damages wildlife, the Woodland Trust said. The report, released to mark the International Day of Forests today, calls for stronger deterrents for fly tipping. The charity, which owns and manages 1,200 woodlands covering 20,000 hectares, has recorded dozens of incidents of fly tipping across its estates. Discarded rubbish includes burned-out cars, a caravan, mattresses, animal carcasses and chemical waste. Norman Starks, Woodland Trust UK operations director, said: ‘Not only is fly tipping illegal, costing us tens of thousands of pounds which could be spent on caring for woods, but it provides a real danger to our native flora and fauna. ‘Trees are facing an unprecedented level of threat from disease, pests and development and we need people to help protect them, rather than add to this threat. ‘We cannot assume trees and woods will be around forever if we keep treating them this way.’ He added: ‘It’s also important to remember that ‘natural’ litter such as dead wood is a unique habitat for a large number of wildlife species so if people come across fallen timber when visiting a wood, please leave it where it lies.’ A selection of items, such as pornographic magazines, car seats and bags and bags of rubbish were found at sites across the country, the charity said (library image)
Clearing up fly tipping and littering in forests has cost more than half a million pounds in the past four years, according to the Woodland Trust. The charity said that at one site in Cumbria, it had been forced to clear up 100 bags of rubbish pornographic magazines had been dumped. Illegal deterrents for fly tipping. The charity, which