Public and anti-fly-tipping group call for 'crush and prosecution' after suspected illegal waste dumper gets truck stuck on rubbish at Queen Elizabeth Country Park

That is the question posed by anti-fly-tipping campaign site clearwaste.com.

It comes after suspected illegal dumpers were left with egg on their face when their massive tipper truck full of household waste got stuck – on a bed of rubbish.

The hapless owner(s) of the errant vehicle were forced to abandon ship after entering the grounds at Queen Elizabeth Country Park near Clanfield late on Wednesday night.

But, desperate to retrieve their ill-fated tipper, the owners rang up the country park the next day and asked for their truck back – claiming it was all an unfortunate mistake after their van happened to break down.

Now ClearWaste founder Martin Montague, who is set to appear on the BBC’s Panorama program next week, is asking the public for their opinion on what should happen to the truck after launching a viral Facebook campaign.

Should the vehicle be crushed and the owners prosecuted or it be handed back?

Meon Valley businessman Martin knows what he would prefer. ‘These fly-tippers got stuck at a council country park in. They claim they "broke down" and now they are asking for their van back,’ he wrote in his Facebook post.

‘Should the council prosecute them and crush it – or give it back?

‘This fly-tipper obviously thought they could get away with dumping this load of rubbish on land at Queen Elizabeth Country Park leaving us taxpayers with the clear-up bill.’

Speaking to The News, Martin said: ‘We want a crush and prosecution.’

He continued: ‘The public also overwhelmingly want a crush and a prosecution judging by the comments from our viral Facebook post that now has over 100,000 views. Everyone wants them outed.

‘We now hope Hampshire County Council (which owns the country park) pursues this.’

Martin said access to the site was breached after locks were damaged with an item such as a bolt cutter before the truck made its way onto the land before running into difficulties.

‘They were obviously fly-tipping when they got stuck. It was a big tipper truck that was so heavily laden with illegal stuff that it got stuck when it went over a mound of fly-tipping,’ he said.

‘The next day they contacted the country park saying the road was open and they drove up there by mistake before breaking down.

‘They even asked for their truck – which had no MOT – back. They were given a big “no”. They also offered to clean up the mess.

‘Can you believe it? It’s hilarious.’

SEE ALSO: Suspected thief arrested

Martin’s website aims to link households with genuine businesses that remove waste.

‘We get hundreds of reports of fly-tipping on our app every day and giving people alternatives than using dodgy unlicensed traders they find on social media will help to stop lots of incidents of fly-tipping,’ he said

‘There is clearly an increasing demand for legal waste removal so we are now helping to link consumers with trustworthy, government-registered waste removal businesses and avoid fly-tippers.

‘Our website makes it simple to find honest, reliable businesses including men or women and vans, skip hire or grab bags firms – all backed by our £1,000 no-fly-tipping guarantee.

‘It's all about making it easy for people to do the right thing.’

Find out more about how ClearWaste is trying to stop fly-tipping in Monday's Panorama on BBC One.

ClearWaste’s campaign can be seen on its Facebook page.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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