AN ongoing battle with flytippers on an industrial estate has left business feeling unsupported by the council.

Businesses on Stanhope Industrial Estate, Wharf Road, Stanford-le-Hope, regularly take the issue into their own hands, removing large piles of rubbish, regularly including sofas, refrigerators and even a dumped lorry.

And the businesses are feeling let down by the council, who they say fail to help with clear-up operations and have denied their bid to have a gate installed.

Thurrock Council insist as the business park is on private land, it would not normally be responsible for clearing the fly-tipping, and stated that it has no record of businesses applying for planning permission to install a gate on the site – which the businesses believe would negate the issue.

A spokesman for one of the businesses, Stanford Coachworks and Mobility Services, said: “This road has been cleaned by us with all the business on the site contributing, with staff helping to clean and spending thousands of pounds.

“This is an ongoing problem with sofas, fridges, rubbish and even a lorry being dumped in the middle of the road.

“This causes serious hazards for staff and customers driving onto the site and enormous expense for the businesses on the site.

“Even though the road is private the estate is forbidden from installing a gate by the council to prevent people from fly tipping. Yet we receive no support from the council to manage the problem – so why are we paying business rates?

“It is another example of councils not supporting local business that employ local people and support the community.

“Our business alone employees over 45 local people and with the other businesses on the site hundreds of people in the community are supported by businesses on this site.”

Councillor Aaron Watkins, said: “Our officers investigate all fly-tips, on private and council land, to gather evidence to assist us in bringing prosecutions against people illegally dumping waste in Thurrock in line with our zero tolerance approach to environmental crime.

“When waste is fly-tipped on private land, as is the case in Wharf Road, it is the responsibility of the landowner to remove it.”