VIDEO: Unofficial rubbish dump appears in Chesterfield neighbourhood
The temporary tip has been created on waste land behind Derby Road - initially as a result of a house clearance.
Since the dump appeared, however, others have been adding to the pile with their own unwanted items.
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Hide AdThe problem reached a head on Sunday night when the mound was set alight, billowing acrid smoke into the air before being extinguished by Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The landowner, Gurdial Singh, said: “I was in the process of getting rid of it when some kids set fire to it.
“But because the area is open people just keep adding to it.”
He added that he had not been asked to remove the rubbish by the fire service and the police had not been involved.
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Hide AdResidents in the area spoke of their dismay at the state of their neighbourhood.
A young couple who live in a nearby flat said they had just had to lift their child’s buggy over the waste to get to their front door.
The man, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s a pretty bad area.
“We’ve had two big fires, people have been stabbed and someone was tasered a while ago by the armed response unit.
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Hide Ad“A bit back they cleared up all the rubbish and it was better but it has just gone back to the state it was in before.”
A man whose job it was to clear up the waste said one skip had already been filled but that new things kept being added ‘all the time’.
“The gates are bolted shut and locked but people just cut through them,” he said.
“There was two new fridges which appeared overnight.
“People just dump it there thinking that Singhy will get rid if it - or actually me.
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Hide Ad“The fire has made it worse - you pick it up and it just crumbles.”
Just last week, another fire involving a ‘quantity of furniture on open ground’ took place in the same area.
And last month, Chesterfield Borough Council issued a community protection notice for land at the end of nearby Lincoln Street, where ‘fly-tipped’ waste was reportedly being burned by the landowner.
To report fly-tipping, contact the council on 01246 345735.