Hunt on for illegal tyre dumpers

There are regulations controlling the disposal of waste tyres

A hunt is on to find who is responsible for dumping hundreds of used tyres near a West Yorkshire reservoir.

In the past two months, nearly 1,400 tyres, plus some car parts, have been found by the side of roads around Scammonden Water near Halifax.

Now the Environment Agency is working with Kirklees Council in a bid to find the culprits.

The tyres were spread over a long stretches of road and may have been thrown from a moving vehicle.

Proper controls

Louise Jackson from the Environment Agency said: "These are serious incidents and the agency has started an investigation in order to trace those who are responsible.

"Tyres are extremely flammable and can pollute the air, water and ground if burnt without proper controls.

"We suspect that someone is operating a tyre collection service and picking up waste from local garages.

"They are probably charging for this service and then instead of disposing of the tyres via a legitimate route they are dumping them at Scammonden."

The tyres have been removed by Kirklees Council.