EAST Hampshire District Council’s (EHDC) environmental services team is trying to track down illegal countryside fly-tippers.

According to a council spokesman, the nuisance tipping “causes a blight on the landscape, raising health and safety issues, and costs tax payers money to remove”.

According to Beech woman Helen Lamb, it is the second time in just over a month that someone has “dumped” what looks like house clearance debris along the verges, in gateways and fields at Snode Hill and Childer Hill at neighbouring Thedden.

It is the worst case of fly-tipping Mrs Lamb said she has witnessed since moving to the area 11 years ago.

At the end of July she put in a report to EHDC after someone dumped a maroon sofa, double mattress, some doors and other rubbish on Children Hill, just off Snode Hill, which was duly removed by the local authority.

But just before the August Bank Holiday weekend yet more rubbish appeared, this time strewn over a wide area at the top of Snode Hill, close to Thedden Grange. Among the debris were five dining room chairs, a bed head, a desk, ornaments, drawers full of paperwork, boxes of rubbish, and large bags of rubble.

It looks, said Mrs Lamb, as though someone has simply offloaded the unwanted contents of a house clearance.

And she added: “The rubbish tip accepts these sort of items, so why dump and pollute?”

Outraged that some people are simply looking to avoid costs associated with rubbish disposal by discarding their rubbish in this way, she is calling for a public “name and shame” approach to the problem.

Elsewhere in the district, at Steep, near Petersfield, the district council is trying to track down the origins of a load of nursery equipment left in Harrow Lane in the early hours of September 1.

District council contracts monitoring officer Rachel Gorvin said: “The waste dumped is quite distinctive and looks like it has come from a nursery or similar. If we could trace the source we might be able to find out how it ended up dumped in the countryside.”

She added: “Fly-tipping is a blight on the beautiful countryside of East Hampshire. Not only is it unsightly but it also poses a danger to people, animals and the environment. A number of fly-tips contain hazardous waste such as asbestos or chemicals.”

Anyone with any information on either of these fly-tipping incidents is asked to call EHDC on 01730 266551.

A district council spokesman said: “Residents need to call 0300 300 0013 to report fly-tips. In general, we aim to clear within 48 hours although larger fly tips or hazardous waste can take longer. If any evidence is reported as being present the clearance can sometimes be delayed to allow time for photographs to be taken.

“EHDC does investigate and will prosecute if it can gather sufficient evidence. Residents must report any tips when they see them.”