Rubbish provides feast for squirrels
PILES OF WASTE FLYTIPPED AFTER HOLIDAY
A SQUIRREL was pictured gorging itself on food among piles of fly tipping that appeared in Normanton after the festive period.
The opportunistic rodent was caught red-handed on Monday in the Grove Street car park off Normanton Road. It was feeding from a mountain of bin bags.
A spokesman from the Normanton Empowerment Team, a volunteer group which campaigns for “cleaner and safer streets”, appealed for information about those who had dumped the rubbish.
He said: “Once again the recycling site is being abused. You could almost furnish a home with small electricals for a house – vacuum, microwave, TV, speakers – or why not open a shop as there was a till as well?
“People have to realise this kind of action is unacceptable and if caught by the council’s teams they will be fined – not a good way to start the new year.”
The city council said the car park, which is home to a recycling area, had become a hotspot for illegal dumping. A spokeswoman said: “Derby City Council is aware that this recycling centre in Normanton is being misused and has become a hotspot for flytipping.
“We received a number of complaints leading up to Christmas, A squirrel was caught red-handed gorging on food from this mountain of waste, right, dumped in a Normanton car park which have continued into the new year due to the excess in waste over the festive period. Our public protection officers will be focusing on investigating environmental crime in this area and publicising prosecutions.”
On Wednesday, council public protection officers said they had handed out a fine for flytipping. They wrote on Twitter: “We’ve collected evidence from a recent flytip at Grove Street Recycling Hub. We tracked down the offender using CCTV, witness reports and evidence retrieved. The offender now has to pay £400 – or face a full prosecution, including an unlimited fine or imprisonment.”
Residents can report flytipping by calling the council on 0333 200 6981 or by going online to myaccount. derby.gov.uk/service/clean_it_up. ■■Cost of bulky waste collection, see Pages 14&15