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Friday 18 Mar 2005

CROYDON RESIDENTS’ RAILWAY RUBBISH COSTS THOUSANDS

Region & Route:

| Southern

Two sofas, six mattresses, a washing machine, ten vacuum cleaners, six barbecues and numerous garden chairs – these are just some of the thousands of items dumped on the railway between Selhurst and Norbury. Andrew Munden, Network Rail Route Director said: “The embankments behind residential housing looks more like a refuse tip than the operational railway it is meant to be. It is upsetting to see that people treat their environment with such blatant disregard. As a result we are having to spend more than £20,000 clearing it.” As well as being an eyesore fly-tipping can have serious safety implications for the railway.  A train could be derailed if a large item, such as a fridge, rolled down an embankment onto the track. Smaller items also cause delay, become stuck in points, jamming them and metal items short-circuiting the electrical system. Work to remove the illegal fly-tipping started on 28 February and is expected to last three to four weeks. Four contractors are working tirelessly to remove the items by hand to nearby refuse vehicles. So far it is estimated that by the end of the work, more than 25 lorry loads of rubbish will have been removed. Councillor Gerry Ryan, Croydon’s cabinet member for streets and environmental services said: “There is no excuse for dumping rubbish anywhere in Croydon because we already operate three official dumps as well as a free bulky waste collection service. “The environmental impact of criminal flytipping is extremely upsetting for local residents.  And rubbish strewn alongside the railway track creates a very poor impression for the thousands of passengers travelling through the borough by train.  We are very pleased to be supporting Network Rail and the British Transport Police in this initiative.” Prosecutions will be sought by the British Transport Police, who will be carrying out regular patrols of the area to deter local people from fly tipping again.    Fly tipping can be reported confidentially to the British Transport Police on 0800 40 50 40.  Report it – don’t ignore it.