Fife farmer warns fly-tippers he will dump a truckload of buffalo dung at their premises

Afed up Fife farmer has threatened to dump a truckload of dung at the door of fly-tippers targeting his land.

Steve Mitchell, who runs the Buffalo Farm near Kirkcaldy, has seen many incidents of illegal dumping over the years.

But the latest episodes at his Bankhead of Raith site appear to have originated from a local business – something Mr Mitchell has described as “totally ridiculous”.

He said: “It’s a fellow business person, quite clearly. We’re going to go through it and hopefully we’ll find an address this time, we didn’t last time.

“But a message to these people – we will catch you, and do not be surprised when I turn up with a lorry load of buffalo dung and put it in your shop because I’m absolutely raging.”

Mr Mitchell said the contents of the waste, which included cardboard boxes for grocery items and some stale loaves of bread, suggested it had come from a local convenience store.

He said “more than 90%” of what had been left was fully recyclable.

“It’s so unnecessary – it could have been easily recycled,” he added.

“It costs my business more than £1,000 a month to get my waste taken away. If you can’t run a business without getting rid of your waste, then maybe you shouldn’t be running a business.”

Mr Mitchell said during the pandem ic the countryside had become more important than ever.

He said: “We’re lucky having all this beautiful countryside and places to walk, and we should look after it and be grateful for it.

“There needs to be a conversation to make sure people know it’s not OK to dump rubbish in the countryside, or in towns.”

Dawn Jamieson, team manager for Fife Council’s Safer Communities, said: “Unfortunately, in these challenging times there are a growing number of reports of fly-tipping around Fife. Everyone is responsible for their own waste and must dispose of their rubbish responsibly.

“There’s no excuse for flytipping, which is a blatant disregard of the law and of our outdoor environment.

No one wants to see rubbish dumped, and it has a direct impact on the condition of our roads, parks , w i ld l ife and communities.

“Our recycling centres are open and we would urge people to make use of these facilities and dispose of recyc lab le waste responsibly.

“Please also check that anyone you ask to take your waste away is properly registered to do so – businesses have a legal duty to dispose of their waste responsibly.

“Help keep Fife a great place to live, work and visit.

“Report fly- tipping by filling out the form at fife. gov.uk/flytipping and we’ll take the appropriate action.”

Picture by Steve Brown. FRUSTRATED: Steve Mitchell says most of what was fly-tipped could have been recycled.