ONE of the District’s worst spots for fly tipping could be cleaned up under new plans.

A stretch of bank along North Beck in Keighley is currently buried beneath years of dumped waste, ranging from office chairs to children’s toys and even a microwave.

The land, on Mohair Street off Becks Road, is unregistered, meaning it is not the responsibility of any one group or individual.

But the Aire Rivers Trust has been desperate to do something about the problem, and fear that as well as being an eyesore, the waste could end up in the beck and local water system.

Last year the charity was given a £9,000 grant by the Telegraph & Argus’ parent company the Gannett Foundation to help tackle the problem.

Now the Trust has submitted a planning application to Bradford Council to build a 45 metre long, 2.4 metre high fence along the unregistered stretch of the bank to protect it from fly tippers.

£30,000 shared out to Eccleshill, Bierley, Menston and Aire Valley charities

They will also clear the existing waste from the bank, some of which will have been there for years.

The trust says the fly tipping is “detrimental to the people and wildlife of the area and poses a risk to flooding.”

The steep slope leading to the beck is covered in waste. Some of the items currently littering the site are mattresses, an old TV, a pink children’s ride in car, fridges and a scooter with a cartoon panda on the front.

Other landowners have fenced off their area of beck-side land, but the unallocated land has no such protection.

The application says: “The fence must be very sturdy, maintenance free and long lasting.”

The plans are for palisade fencing, and the trust says: “We admit that from an aesthetic point of view, palisade fencing is not ideal at Mohair Street, but palisade fencing is in keeping with other fencing along Mohair Street. Without palisade fencing it is likely the fencing will be pulled down and the slope is flytipped again. Where this style of fencing has been installed around the District to prevent fly tipping it has had the desired effect.”

On the tipping, Nick Milson from the Aire Rivers Trust said: “It is a big problem, the fly tipping there is awful. The Gannett money will help up put a project in place to try and tackle it.

“It is a mix of waste, domestic, commercial. Where the site is and the lack of any fencing means people just come along, pull up and empty out their waste.

“There are businesses around there, but this land isn’t owned by anyone.

“What we want to do is fence off that area so there is no access for people to fly tip. Something really needs to be done about the site.

“There are people living near this site, so this tipping must be detrimental to them as well as being bad for the environment.”

A decision on the application is expected in June.