AMBITIOUS plans to build a playground and open up nearby woodland in Keighley are being threatened by fly-tippers.

Volunteers on the town’s £1 million Big Local regeneration scheme are calling for an end to the dumping of rubbish around Hainworth Wood in Woodhouse and a nearby bridleway.

One of the scheme’s members, local resident and woodland warden Greg Hoyle, is appealing for information about who is leaving the large piles of rubbish.

He said: “This is a beautiful part of Keighley, and Hainworth Lane is part of the Calder/Aire Bridleway Route, but some folk are hell bent on destroying it.

“Virtually every week the lane is blocked with tipped waste, everything from general household rubbish to solid obstructions like builders’ waste.”

Hainworth Wood occupies part of the hillside above Woodhouse, Spring Bank and Wesley Place, bordered by Hainworth Road, a rough track, and cobbled Hainworth Lane.

Mr Hoyle, an outdoor activities leader who looks after the wood, said fly tipping was rife on Hainworth Lane and land adjoining the wood.

He said: “The Big Local Partnership is finally in a position to get a play area built at the bottom of Hainworth Lane as well as promote Hainworth Wood as active woodland for use by the general public, uniformed and organised groups.

“But we cannot promote the area until we resolve this awful mess. We are determined to bring an end to it.

“It causes an eyesore and is unfair on residents who want enjoy the outdoor environment.”

Mr Hoyle suggested a householder might have had work done on their property and hired someone in good faith to dispose of it.

He added: “Unfortunately the contractor has not disposed of the waste in the correct way and it is not fair on the rest of us.”

The Big Local Partnership is using £1m of lottery money for a range of resident-led improvements in the ‘Keighley Valley’, which consists of neighbourhoods stretching from Stockbridge to Ingrow.

Mr Hoyle said: “The first few year is all about the outdoor environment, creating and managing spaces to offer more opportunities for play, learning and training to get people into work

“Bradford Council has urged that all parties work together to deter the fly tipping. Prosecution relies on good evidence and without that we can’t get a result,” Mr Hoyle said.

The problem of fly-tipping across England worsened for the second year in a row, costing taxpayers almost £50 million to clean up, official figures showed at the end of last year.

The number of incidents rose 5.6 per cent in 2014/2015 on the previous year, with local authorities forced to deal with 900,000 incidents, compared with 852,000 in 2013/2014.

The costs of clearing up illegally dumped waste, two thirds of which was household rubbish, in places such as streets, alleyways and council land was nearly £50 million, a rise of almost £5m on the year before.

Anyone with information about the fly-tipping should visit bradford.gov.uk and click on Street Care and Cleaning.