Fly tippers have turned a pretty country lane in Huddersfield into a rubbish dump.

Criminals have been dumping tyres and building rubble along a 500m stretch of Sandy Lane, Crosland Hill.

It is believed the lane, next to Crosland Hill Airfield, has been targeted by ‘professional’ fly tippers due to its seclusion and the type and amount of waste which has been dumped within a few weeks.

Kirklees Council said it was receiving one complaint per week about fly tipping in the area but was unable to bring the offenders to justice because of a lack of witnesses.

A Crosland Hill resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “I take a walk on there several times a week and it is a beautiful spot.

“They’ve off-loaded old tyres and lots of building rubble; there’s a hell of a lot of it.

“It seems to have happened over the last couple of days.

“Who goes to the trouble of spreading it over a third-of-a-mile radius?”

Fly tipping cost English local authorities £36.4m in 2012/13, although this was a 3% reduction compared to 2011/12.

According to official statistics, Kirklees Council spent approximately £50,000 clearing 661 instances of illegally dumped rubbish in 2012/13.

Calderdale Council had 1,156 incidents costing an estimated £56,000 to clean up in the same period.

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We are getting roughly one incident every week but no evidence and no witnesses so far. It’s a semi-rural location so the roads are quiet at night.

“The fly tippers appear to be driving along the road, throwing out tyres on to the side of the road as they go.

“It is then a job to have them removed, as on the last occasion there were 26 tyres left. This work is currently being carried out.”