A COUNCILLOR has branded fly-tippers who dumped nine bin bags full of waste on a rural road near York as “vandals of the countryside”.

Coun John Galvin, who represents Bishopthorpe, spotted the black sacks on the side of Appleton Road, just outside the village, and immediately reported it to the authorities.

He said: “Personally, I think it’s disgusting that people dumped this waste on the countryside, it looks like they just tossed it out on to the side of the road and there is no excuse for it.”

Coun Galvin and his grandson, Edward Matthews, helped retrieve the bags before they were removed by officers from City of York Council. He said he did not know what was in the bags.

Liz Levett, head of environmental enforcement and parking services at City of York Council, said: “We do a lot of work to support local residents and businesses to keep their local neighbourhoods clean and ensure that York is a place to be proud to live in.

However, some people still dump their rubbish without a thought to the nuisance and cost to us all. So we would like to remind all businesses and residents that they have a responsibility not to dump their unwanted goods illegally, and we will take action against those who are caught fly-tipping.

“However, the work carried out by the council’s street environment team does have a positive impact on the number of fly-tipping incidents and we have seen a decline in the number of incidents in comparison to three to four years ago.

“But we can get spates of fly-tipping, so we urge people to continue reporting cases by phoning 01904 551551 or emailing streetenvironment.campaigns@york.gov.uk so we can act as soon as possible.”