UK campaigners call for action to tackle surge in Covid-19 fly-tipping

Widespread illegal dumping during lockdown prompts outrage among communities

The pile of abandoned tyres looms higher than a house and blocks the full width of the road in an industrial estate in Drumchapel, west of Glasgow city centre. Spiked with other incongruous debris, including children's toys and a Zimmer frame, this week the city council began the task of proper disposal, an operation expected to cost thousands of pounds.

I've never seen outrage like it," said local Scottish Labour councillor Paul Carey, in regards to the community response to this industrial scale" fly-tipping. Locals are really concerned about the environmental impact as well as the immediate hazard. It's in the middle of a residential area and if it went on fire you'd have toxic fumes right across their homes," he said.