Wildlife threatened by illegal dumping

ILLEGAL dumping of waste in a nature reserve near Uxbridge could threaten conservation work and harm wildlife, according to a wildlife charity.

A team from the London Wildlife Trust was shocked on Thursday last week when they discovered “truckloads” of sub soil, car batteries, empty drums of cleaning fluid and “what looks like the contents of a house”.

The waste was dumped at Frays Farm Meadows nature reserve in Denham, next to the busy A40 sliproad.

Conservation officer for west London at the London Wildlife Trust, Simon Hawkins, said: “This is a very serious episode of fly tipping – it’s not a couple of bags of garden rubbish out of the back of someone’s car.”

“It’s taken up staff time clearing it back so the farmer can get access to the cattle, and could have cost London Wildlife Trust a lot of money to remove.”

Trust staff have been working to clear a path through the rubbish, and Highways England have agreed to step in and remove the dumped waste because it is blocking their access to the A40 viaduct.

There are currently 11 Sussex cows grazing on the site to help maintain plant diversity and the trust said it is essential the reserve can be accessed.

Frays Farm Meadows is also home to endangered water voles, barn owls, slow worms and a colony of glow-worms.

The reserve is one of only 40 across London provided by the London Wildlife Trust and has been designated a ‘site of special scientific interest’ because of the wildlife living there.

Concerns over the site’s future have also been raised as the reserve could also be damaged by a HS2 haul road.