DEMANDS are being made to Thurrock Council that it act immediately to remove a huge waste dumping blot on the Purfleet landscape before it causes further danger to the local environment.

Concern has been raised in recent days about the stability of the large amount of baled rubbish stacked in the Mardyke Valley close to the Circus Tavern.

The bales of rubbish have been there for many years and were subject to an enforcement notice to remove them issued by Thurrock Council several years ago. But the council failed to follow up on the notice, which has now expired.

And, as the floodwaters of the Mardyke river have lapped at the edge of the bales in recent days, the fear is any higher flooding would see rubbish, some of which may contain contaminated materials such as medical supplies, spread across the whole area or washed into the Thames.

The members of Thurrock Scouts are particularly concerned.

The district commissioner Graham Monk described the council's lack of action as a disgrace and said: "I will be writing in the strongest possible terms to the leader of the council and its CEO, this has gone on for on enough now.

"This in endangering local wildlife and it may not be far of endangering the young people who use our scout camp at Cherrywood.

"The time has come for action not words or platitudes. If there's a legal argument to be had, have it after this area is made safe. Or is money more important than our environment and possibly lives?"

He has written to the council, saying: "We have been campaigning for these to be removed for the past five years. I understand that an enforcement notice was issued to clear the site but the date for this expired a year ago. I wonder what is the point of an enforcement notice if it is not enforced?

"We, as a Scout District, are very concerned that these bales are now breaking apart and it is far from clear what is within them. I cannot be clear that hazards from them have not been carried onto Cherrywood as a result of the flooding and feel that the council's environmental health team should urgently check the water on our site. If it is contaminated, this will be a serious health and safety hazard which will result in the site being out of action for some considerable time.

"Could you please respond urgently outlining what action the council is prepared to undertake and I feel that an urgent site meeting is required to look at the way forward?"

The Environment Agency, which is currently in the spotlight for failures at the Purfleet Sluice which has contributed to the flooding, is also aware of the issue and told Thurrock Nub News today (Sunday, 17 January): "We are aware of historic fly tipped waste near this site and would ask any members of the public concerned about water pollution to call our incident line on 0800 80 70 60."

Thurrock Nub News editor Neil Speight visited the site today and made the video report with this story.

The area is no stranger to the problem of commercial scale tipping. In 2015 a huge half mile long trail of fly-tipping brought the borough to national attention. Pictures of the huge dump at Corys Wharf made national newspapers and TV news programmes.

Thurrock Council was criticised for not spotting the problem in the making and possibly turning a blind eye. In the aftermath a number of people whose waste was found in the tip were prosecuted and fined, but the organisers of the dump largely escaped Scot free and it cost the council huge amounts to clear up the mess.

Leader of the council at the time was Labour's Cllr John Kent who said: "Thurrock's reputation was dragged through the mud across the nation.

"Now perhaps people will realise it was not local people doing this and the council has acted, both clearing the mess and prosecuting some of those responsible."