A haven for wildlife and walkers is being ruined by flytippers whose rubbish is turning a pleasant spot into a hazard. Gorleston resident Lucy Pilgrim, 23, spoke of her disgust at the state of the dyke which runs behind J W Munnings on the Harfreys Industrial Estate where she had found toilet seats and beer barrels among the disgusting detritus.

A haven for wildlife and walkers is being ruined by flytippers whose rubbish is turning a pleasant spot into a hazard.

Gorleston resident Lucy Pilgrim, 23, spoke of her disgust at the state of the dyke which runs behind J W Munnings on the Harfreys Industrial Estate where she had found toilet seats and beer barrels among the disgusting detritus.

She said: “It is just people who are going down there late at night or early in the morning and discarding all their rubbish in the dykes. It just seems people have got no respect for anybody else or the wildlife.”

The mum-of-one, who lives with her parents in Beccles Road, said much of the wildlife that visited the site had been driven away including ducks, water voles, kestrels, herons and foxes.

She said that last year there were around 20 ducks in the area, but now only two or three were visiting the site.

The former East Norfolk Sixth Form College pupil was worried the site was becoming a health hazard.

Miss Pilgrim added she took her two-year-old daughter on walks down to the dyke to learn about what lived there, but said the borough council had not responded when she sent them an e-mail expressing her concern about the situation.

She added that the borough council's policy of charging to collect larger items of waste could be making the problem worse and called for all waste to be collected for free.

Paul Shucksmith, environmental ranger at the borough council, said the council's rangers were due to visit the dyke on Tuesday to determine who owned it and to decide what action to take to deal with the flytipping.

He said: “It depends on the state of the dyke, but if there is something in there which could cause health concerns then we could decide to take legal action.”