Deepdale community calls on people to clean up their act after nearly 10 tonnes of waste is removed from disused railway embankment

A community is fighting back after being blighted by fly-tippers.
The disused railway line and embankment off Burrow Road, Deepdale. Image from Google.The disused railway line and embankment off Burrow Road, Deepdale. Image from Google.
The disused railway line and embankment off Burrow Road, Deepdale. Image from Google.

Residents of ‘The Counties’ area of Deepdale have formed a new Neighbourhood Watch scheme, with the main topic of concern the waste littering an old railway line opposite Burrow Road.

After being contacted by the group, Network Rail sent a team of cleaners into the area for eight days - and recovered nearly 10 tonnes of waste.

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Now residents are keen to stop a repeat of the problem, with extra preventative measures also being looked into by the council.

A spokesman for the Neighbourhood Watch group said: “It’s been a problem for years - there has been fly tipping on an enormous scale.

“There’s been every kind of rubbish dumped there you can imagine, including dirty nappies, bags of rubbish and hundreds of beer cans.

“Network Rail has responded to our request for a clean-up and they have had men removing 40 to 50 van-loads of stuff. One of the men told me it was the worst he’d ever seen.”

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He added: “We’re pleased that action has finally been taken, but we now have to stop it happening again.

“Rather than blaming other people, we have to look at ourselves first. If we dump stuff there, then other people from other areas will think it’s acceptable too, and it becomes a magnet for fly-tipper again.”

Ian Croucher, Network Rail infrastructure maintenance protection co-ordinator, said: “Over an eight-day period, nine and a half tonnes of waste was cleared from the embankment near the old railway line in Deepdale.

“The illegally dumped rubbish was a real eyesore for residents. We regularly monitor the area due to the high level of fly tipping. The council has agreed to improve bin provisions and look into setting up CCTV to catch the culprits.

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“I’m really pleased the local community are happy with the clean-up work we have done. However, Network Rail needs help from locals and Preston City Council to make sure it doesn’t go back to how it was.”