Fury as gas canisters dumped at train track
Four gas canisters have been dumped near to a railway line in Larkhall.
Residents in the town’s High Avon Street, who live just yards away from the fly-tipping, have been alarmed by the recent incident.
One person said: “The gas canisters may be empty, but this could have catastrophic results if they fall onto the line.
“We have recently had trees cut near the line which has made a huge improvement to the area but people continue to illegally dump rubbish at this site.
“This area has become a dumping ground for many. We have contacted various organisations but so far nothing has been done.”
A Network Rail spokesman said: “Each year, we remove over 1200 tonnes of rubbish from the operational railway in Scotland and this is a task which could be largely avoided if people took their rubbish to a bin or recycling centre.
“Litter collection and fly-tipping instead uses up maintenance staff time that could be better spent on duties that would further improve the performance of our network and the service we provide the public.
“Our engineers will inspect the area and we are always available to work with local authorities to help them address the causes of fly-tipping.”
Shirley Clelland, head of Fleet and Environmental Services at South Lanarkshire Council, said: “Our officers visited the location late Monday (October 9) afternoon and found no evidence of gas canisters — it may be that Network Rail had already removed them.
“Environmental Services will be alerting Network Rail to the dumping that has taken place and, in the meantime, we have spoken with the person making the complaint and requested that they or anyone else with information on the vehicles or people involved could contact Environmental Services so that the matter can be investigated.”