A group of volunteers are calling for people to stop fly tipping after clearing hundreds of bags of rubbish dumped each month.

Members of Lea Valley Park Authority and The Canal and River Trust have just completed a second major clear up by the M25 bridge south of Waltham Abbey

Eighty five black bins was filled with plastic, settees and cardboard boxes around the Rammey Marsh site resulting in the teams low loader to make three journeys.

David Edwards, who grew up in Waltham Abbey but now lives in Buntingford, Herefordshire, was inspired to get involved to keep his childhood home town clean as possible.

The retired director of pharmaceutical company Pfizer, said: “It disgusts me, we seem to be the only species in this world that fouls its own environment

“You walk along and you see someone drink a can in a hedge. This is our planet, there’s no planet B.”

Mr Edwards went on to say fly tipping is a very common site along the canal of Lea Valley Park near the industrial site.

Despite the teams best efforts, the 25-mile open space along the M25 and the River Lea is a popular place to dispose unwanted items.

A member of the volunteer team discovered the site was littered again a few weeks ago after only fully clearing the land last November.

“It’s an ongoing problem,” explained Mr Edwards. “We’ve slowly got on top if it but every so often there is an outbreak where people come along in the dark at night and dump a lot of stuff, then you’re back to square one.”

“People don’t want to pay for removal companies or the council charges people to remove their stuff in their houses so instead of paying they just tip it and think they can get away with it.”

The Canal and River Trust introduced an initiative last year for residents to adopt a stretch of river and be responsible for its maintenance.

Mr Edwards said all the volunteers are motivated to keep the river tidy but feels more vigorous fines will prevent further fly tipping to the area.

“People don’t want to pay for removal companies or the council charges people to remove their stuff in their houses so instead of paying they just tip it and think they can get away with it,” he said.

“We are always looking for more volunteers, the more people the quicker things get cleared up.”

For more information visit canalrivertrust.org.uk/