'A COUNTRYSIDE ranger today hit out at the rising tide in flytipping, after it was revealed offences have gone up 300 per cent in the past three years.

Ian Walker, of United Utilities, described people who dump waste at beauty spots across East Lancashire as "an ignorant and selfish minority" who were destroying the countryside and costing tax-payers thousands of pounds.

He spoke out after piles of household waste, building refuse and even tyres were left beside roads and on car parks in Tockholes.

And in a second incident in Lower Darwen, tippers filled the River Darwen with rubbish, including an old caravan, a three-piece suite, three fridges and a burnt-out car.

Ian said he was now hoping to formalise a working relationship with Blackburn with Darwen Council to organise clean-ups and pursue prosecutions.

He has also contacted the Environment Agency to suggest CCTV cameras are installed in a number of high risk areas. A spokesperson for the agency said they have already sited a number of cameras in beauty spots and known areas visited by tippers and they will be looking at installing some more in the future.

Ian, a woodland project manager, said: "We've had enough, just this week we found somebody had again dumped a load of building refuse and household rubbish on Tockholes car park, in Tockholes Road.

"I don't know what they were thinking, but it has a lot of bank details with their name and address in, so we can easily trace the rubbish.

"But this is an on-going thing, it happens every week. We even get fridges and tyres dumped. These cost £1.40 each to dispose of and we get up to 1,500 sometimes.

"It's all because people don't want to pay rubbish-tip fees. It's really selfish and it costs everyone else money.

"It needs to stop, it seems that people these days don't care about the countryside at all. The rate we are going, there won't be anything left for our children to enjoy."

Walker Alan Bullough, 72, of Leopold Way, Blackburn, said he was horrified at the amount of waste dumped in the River Darwen.

Alan, who likes to walk his three dogs on the track near to the river, said: "It's not good to see. It's a popular walking area. There are a lot of people who enjoy taking their dogs down there.

"But this is enough to put them off. I just don't understand why these people do it.

"I was on to the council eight or nine days ago and since then a car has been dumped."

Latest figures show that over a period from April to September 1999, direct services carried out 613 fly-tipping jobs.

That same period in 2002 rose to 2,248.

They have already piloted a new project in back streets around Darwen, which involve regular clean-ups and no-dumping signs.

It was hoped that by targeting certain streets regularly, they will be able to find evidence of rubbish as soon as it is dumped, to prosecute those responsible.

Coun Mohammed Khan, Executive Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods for the council said they take this matter very seriously and work with other agencies such as United Utilities.

"We also run a free pick-up service for household bulky items and have two household waste and recycling centres, where people can dispose of their rubbish."