Council to tackle fly-tip hotspot

A South Yorkshire council is to buy vacant land in a bid to tackle the problem of fly-tipping.

Plans to buy a former scrap yard in Attercliffe have been backed by Sheffield City Council.

The site on Ardmore Street is up for auction and if unsuccessful the council will use compulsory purchase powers to obtain the land.

It already owns much of the land in the street and said it plans to use the area as a development site.

Neighbourhood blighted

Councillor Tim Rippon said: "Buying all the land to assemble a site that can be marketed as a development opportunity will be the long term sustainable solution to this problem.

"Local residents and nearby businesses have long suffered the environmental nuisance caused by fly-tippers blighting their neighbourhood, so these proposals are very welcome."

He added that fly-tipping in and around Ardmore Street had been a problem for several years.

In June 2003 the council embarked on a clean-up operation to clear away tonnes of dumped tyres, gas canisters, fridges and other rubbish.

At the time the Environment Agency classed it as the region's third worst fly-tip.