RESIDENTS have raised concerns about the plague of flytipping at a Bradford cemetery – and of their fears of repercussions if they speak out about the problem.

One woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said she was horrified to see a settee, refrigerator, lumps of concrete and litter dumped in Scholemoor Cemetery this morning while out walking her dog.

She said it was the latest problem in an ongoing saga, which sees rubbish being dumped at the cemetery and in Necropolis Road on a weekly basis.

The woman said: “This is not a new thing, but it’s the worst case there has been in a while.

“They have driven into the graveyard to dump this rubbish, it probably happens twice a week, but I was quite shocked to see this level of tipping.

“Tipping has been going on here for years, and even though a barrier was put up at the top of the cemetery they just bypass this and drive through the graves.

“This rubbish has been dumped in the path but it is spilling on to the grass and is really close to graves, but we have found other tipping in the past dumped directly on to graves.”

The woman said she and other residents wanted to speak out about the problem but were scared of the repercussions if they did.

She said people had thrown eggs at their houses in the past, and windows were smashed at one house where the residents had tried to film flytippers.

“It is horrible, we are scared of them finding out who we are, and it would be awful to put your head above the parapet to complain and then get targeted.

“I think the council needs to stop charging people to use tips, it will cut flytipping and it must cost them more to clean up flytipping than they make from tip permits.”

Councillor Tariq Hussain (Great Horton, Labour) called the flytipping problem in the area a “sad state of affairs”.

He said: “This is certainly a big issue, we have recently had big clean-ups at the cemetery, and we are having another one tomorrow.

“But then some mindless people come along.

“It really is a sad state of affairs that people are flytipping in a cemetery, and take no responsibility for their actions or their rubbish.

“If it is truly as bad at the residents are saying, maybe cameras need putting up or wardens should patrol the area more, but at this stage we just need a discussion about what can be done to tackle this problem.”

A spokesman for Bradford Council said the flytipping had been cleared up this afternoon.

Anyone with any information about flytippers can call the council’s Environmental Enforcement team on 01274 434366, or email NSAdmin@bradford.gov.uk.