Scotland’s environmental watchdog has confirmed it is helping with an investigation into fly-tipping at a Fife beauty spot over the weekend.
Local man Andrew Dunlop shared pictures of the rubbish dumped at Sunnyside Plantation near Lochgelly in Fife.
Rubbish left at the site included a bed frame and household waste, some of which appeared to have been partially burned.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) says it has been made aware of the incident and will assist with the investigation as required.
A spokeswoman for Sepa said: “We received notification from Fife Council on Monday regarding fly-tipping at the Sunnyside Plantation in Lochgelly and will assist the local authority in their investigation as required
Fly-tipping branded ‘absolutely disgusting’
“We would encourage members of the public to report any potential pollution incidents via our 24-hour online form.”
Images of the fly-tipping were shared in the Fife Street Champions Facebook group, whose volunteers collected more 14,000 bags of litter from across the kingdom last year.
Members of the group branded the dumping at the forest “disgusting”.
One man wrote: “That’s shocking, and they have tried to burn all the evidence.”
Another poster added: “Absolutely disgusting.”
Forestry and Land Scotland, which manages the land, has not responded to a request for comment.
TV documentary highlights criminal links to dumping
It comes after a recent BBC documentary revealed that criminal gangs are being investigated for their links to fly-tipping in Fife.
A dumping site in Lochgelly near to the Sunnyside Plantation – dubbed one of Scotland’s worst illegal dumping spots – featured as part of the TV show.
The site is one of 31 identified as potentially being used by criminal gangs looking to profit from fly-tipping.
Sepa estimates that about 15% of organised crime groups in Scotland have an interest in environmental businesses.
By running unlicensed and unregulated waste disposal services, the groups can undercut legitimate businesses by fly-tipping the waste rather than disposing of it correctly.
