Beauty spot will be cleared of rubbish

A lane near Staffordshire playing fields which have become a magnet for fly-tipping and litter is set to get tidied up.

Rubbish ranging from shopping trolleys and traffic cones to sofas and doors has turned the wooded beauty spot into an eyesore at the parkland off Laburnum Avenue, Bridgtown,near Cannock, says Councillor Mark Green. He said that he had received complaints from people who walk in the area by the stream and concerns were also raised about the safety of walking because the overgrown bushes could hide potential attackers.

Now the Forest of Mercia is being invited to work in the area by Cannock Chase Council before the end of the year.

Community forest manager for Forest of Mercia Rebecca Banks said: "We have been there in the past. Last year, around 35 refuse bags of rubbish were removed by the forestry team to enable them to do the environmental work on the site, such as strimming.

"It is right that we will be back on the site later in the year, not so much to deal with the fly-tipping but to do general environmental woodland improvements like cutting back the undergrowth, to make it a much safer and more usable area for the community.

"Hopefully it will have a postive impact on some of the anti-social behaviour on the site."

Councillor Green has welcomed the news. He said: "I am pleased. The main park area is normally tidy but just around the woodland where the path is it is overgrown and untidy.

"At the moment a lot of people take their dogs for a walk along the paths and they have to duck under trees because it is getting so overgrown.

"If you go for a walk around the paths it can be uncomfortable and enclosed and potentially dangerous if someone is walking their dog late in the evening. People could hide in the bushes and anything could happen.

"Hopefully, the Forest of Mercia will get as much done as possible. I understand it's very hard graft to keep it clean but it's like anything, it comes down to the attitude of some people in the area.

"We need to get more people involved to keep their eyes and ears open and report anyone who they see tipping rubbish and spoiling things for other people."