RUDHEATH Parish Council is looking at replacing an area for cemetery waste with containers in a bid to address the issue of people dumping household rubbish.

The idea is being considered by the council for the open brick-built area at Rudheath Cemetery, for whose running and maintenance the parish council is responsible.

The brick area is intended for cemetery waste such as flowers, grass cuttings, weeds and paper, but is used regularly by people to dump household rubbish, takeaway items and beer cans.

The scale of the problem is shown by the fact that the parish council now has to empty the area far more often than would be expected purely for cemetery waste, which in turn adds to the council’s costs.

“We would ask people not to put any household rubbish in the brick area,” said parish council chairman councillor Alison Gerrard.

“We are having to empty the area now at least every two weeks, whereas before this problem started about six months ago it was being emptied every two months.

“Bin bags are being dumped in there, fast food takeaway containers and beer cans, and because people are leaving household items the area gets full very quickly.

“As a result we are looking at possibly replacing the brick area with a number of smaller containers. Our aim is to come up with a long-term solution.”