A FRIDGE freezer dumped on an unadopted road had to be moved by a ward councillor – leading him to renew calls for a rethink of fly-tipping policy.

Little Lever resident Jim Barnes, who lives in Lever Street, complained to Cllr Paul Richardson that the appliance had been dumped at the rear of his house, in Back Lever Street.

But as council policy is to only remove rubbish from land it owns, Cllr Richardson was unable to arrange for it to be picked up by the authority.

The UKIP representative for Little Lever and Darcy Lever took matters into his own hands by moving the fridge himself, with help from Noel Harris, Bolton UKIP’s vice chairman.

Cllr Richardson raised the issue of the fly-tipping on unadopted roads at council meeting in April. But he said his calls for a rethink of policy were rejected by Labour councillors.

He said: “If someone dumps something on the street that’s where it stays. I’m not talking about private land, like farmer’s land, I’m talking about highway.”

He added: “This leaves a whole category of fly tipping that is never addressed and only serves as a magnet for more flytipping. It’s getting silly when a 71-year-old councillor had to roll his sleeves up on this occasion to sort out the problem.”

But Cllr Nick Peel insisted the council’s policy was the correct one.

He said: “The fact of the matter is that it’s wrong for the council to take responsibility for private land because then it take the responsibility away from other householders or businesses.It’s their responsibility to look after their own land.

“But the reality is that on occasion common sense does come into it, particularly when the borders are a bit undefined. It depends on the circumstances.”