Flytippers on track to rack up £2.3m bill

Rubbish removed from the railway has included broken fridges, beer barrels, sofas and mattresses, Network Rail (NR) has said.

Last year, around £1m was spent clearing flytipping and litter just on the London North Western route – from Euston to the West Midlands and north of England.

This week thousands of rail staff and community volunteers are taking part in a clean-up exercise targeting 130 sites. Nearly 1,000 tonnes of rubbish is expected to be cleared.

NR maintenance director Steve Featherstone said: “Flytipping on the railway is illegal and must be taken seriously. It creates an eyesore, threatens safety on the railway by blocking key access and removes precious resources vital to improving the railway.”

Author Bill Bryson, president of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, said: “Britain is a beautiful country and often a visitor’s first impression of a new town or county is the view from the train carriage. How disappointing it is to have that view tainted and polluted by litter and flytipping.”