People are continuing to flytip their unwanted waste despite tips reopening at the start of the month.

Kitchen cabinets, clothes and even a bin from Bury are among the items that have been dumped.

On Thursday 37 bags’ worth of rubbish were cleared from Coal Pit Road, including rotten food, clothes and empty packaging.

A fridge-freezer, cabinets and a Bury Council bin full of rubbish were left on Viola Street in Astley Bridge.

Waste has also been cleared on Blackburn road by volunteers.

Andy Capstick runs the litter picking group in Astley Bridge which has been put on hold during the past few months. Recently he’s started bagging up waste that’s been flytipped to enable it to be collected more easily.

He said: “It’s just complete madness, people are so selfish and just don’t think of the consequences.

“On Viola Street we found a bin from Bury that was full of rubbish, an old Christmas tree and loads of food waste.

“We found a massive box with a wall cabinet inside and polystyrene packaging. Further down the road over a wall there was a silver fridge freezer and a microwave.

“At Coal Pit Road there were bags for life full of rubbish, one had lots of rubble inside, another had boxes for heating lamps.There were also loads of clothes which stank of cannabis.”

Worryingly flytipping in rural areas such as Coal Pit Road can be a fire risk.

A spokeswoman for the Woodland Trust, who look after Coal Pit Road, said: “We regularly clear up flytipping on Coal Pit Road, and this should be collected in the next day or so.

“We have a lot of people who clear flytipping for us, but it is something we’re quite used to dealing with.

“A lot of landowners have noticed an increase in flytipping during lockdown, and we’ve been trying to keep on top of it.

“We have to be very careful with the fire risk as well, which is one of the big issues in that area. Our wardens are now able to go out to these areas and fire risks are something they will be looking out for.”

Cllr Hilary Fairclough said: “Flytipping is something the council have been working very hard to attend to, it’s not been made any easier by the current situation.

“Andy has been doing a wonderful job certainly making Astley Bridge looking a lot better and he does work very hard.

“By it’s very nature flytipping is difficult to tackle, people do it very sneakily and they try not to leave any traces. It’s not easily dealt with but it’s something the council is determined to eradicate.

“I know it’s a big problem for a lot of people and something that does upset people. I don’t understand why people do it, we have lots of ways for people to get rid of their unwanted waste.

“For the people who flytip I would certainly recommend being as strong as possible when they have been caught, I would tell these people not to do it.

“I don’t understand why people are prepared to go out and break the law and have no concern or care for where they live.

“I do promise that the council is working as hard as possible to prevent, deal and clear the flytipping.”