Fury as scores of old tyres are left dumped in village

Fly-tippers left more than 100 tyres scattered along a three-mile stretch through the village.

Ranscombe Lane, Moor Lane and Half Mile Drove were reportedly targeted over the weekend.

Meanwhile, posts on social media suggested tyres had also despoiled areas of adjoining Glynde and woodland at Laughton.

Ringmer councillor Johnny Denis said: “This is shocking behaviour to deliberately vandalise our lanes.”

He believed the illegal dumping was a consequence of charges for certain items being introduced on Monday (October 1) by East Sussex County Council at its Household Waste Recycling Centres – including £2 per tyre.

Cllr Denis said: “This new dumping is an unwanted side effect of new charges for disposing of tyres at household waste sites being introduced by the county council. While Lewes District Council staff work hard to clear up this mess it is the county council that has caused it with its new charges.

“They need to change their minds on this as they push the burden of clearing up onto local communities.”

A spokesperson for Lewes District Council said: “The council has cleared 102 tyres that were fly-tipped in Moor Lane and Half Mile Drove, near Ringmer.

“The tyres were dumped in two different spots in Half Mile Drove and on both sides of Moor Lane at various points along its entire length.

“As soon as the council was alerted, two vehicles and three crews were sent to clear the tyres.

Cllr Isabelle Linington, Cabinet member for Environmental Impact, said: “This is absolutely unacceptable behaviour and we will not hesitate to prosecute if we find out who is responsible.

“If anyone has any information that can help us, they should use the council’s Report-It app.”

The app can be downloaded from lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/Report-it