JACOB Dear is leading a one man crusade to tackle fly-tipping after a huge heap of waste has been brazenly dumped in Highbridge.

The 23-year-old artist from Burnham-on-Sea was shocked to discover what he describes as a five-tonne mound of rubbish while he was on a photoshoot near Highbridge train station.

He was inspired to tackle the problem and highlight the issue by placing photographs of the rubbish on walls throughout the town. Empty paint cans, wood, old pipes, tyres and plastic sheets have littered the land for at least a month.

He said: “There must have been about five tonnes of waste, it was a mix of industrial waste and household waste, there was loads of it.

“I understand the environmental impact we are having every day and I wanted to do something about it to make a change.

Figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show local authorities in England dealt with more than one million fly-tipping incidents between 2016 and 2017, a seven per cent increase from the previous year.

And between April 1, 2016, and March 31, 2017, there were a total of 1,177 reports of fly-tipping in Sedgemoor alone.

Jacob now hopes the images will encourage residents and businesses to dispose of their waste responsibly and will prompt the council to take action. “I would like to see the council make a change and maybe take a closer look at the cost of disposing industrial waste,” Jacob said.

“A lot of companies have to pay to dump their waste and it’s expensive. It may be worth the council looking at how building waste can be collected.”

A spokesman for Sedgemoor District Council said residents and the council need to work together to tackle the issue.

The spokesman said: “There is no excuse for fly-tipping, there are excellent facilities to dispose of waste across Sedgemoor at recycling centres at Bridgwater, Cheddar and Highbridge.

“Fly-tipping is a crime punishable by fine or imprisonment, a blot on Sedgemoor’s lovely landscape and a potential threat to human health and that of wildlife and domesticated animals through injury or by polluting the environment. There is no excuse and we all need to fight it together.”

“We will clear dumped rubbish from SDC-owned land; fly tipping on private land/road/verges is the responsibility of the landowner.

“Everyone in Sedgemoor can take action against fly tipping, from reporting those dumping waste to avoiding their own waste being fly tipped.

“You can report fly-tipping anonymously, but your evidence could be vital to ensure a fly-tipper is caught and convicted, so that levels of fly-tipping are reduced.

“Just knowing that someone is prepared to give evidence may convince an offender to admit their guilt.”

For more information about fly tipping visit http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk.