A COUNTRY lane, popular as a shortcut for locals, is almost impassable after flytippers dumped huge piles of rubbish, furniture and household items in the road.

Coniston Road, Thundersley, has suffered flytipping problems for years.

However, over the festive period, a sofa, a bed, kitchen cabinets, a washing machine, fridges and an entire bathroom suite were dumped, making it almost impossible to drive through.

The verges are also littered with bags of garden waste and sacks of builders’ debris, sand and gravel.

There is so much rubbish in the road, Castle Point Council there is too much for its street cleaners to shift.

Jennifer Goodchild regularly uses Coniston Road to cut across to the A127 from her home in Oak Walk, Thundersley.

She said: “We’re used to it being a tip, but it’s worse than it has ever been. It’s normally bricks and stuff, but now it’s whole kitchens and bathrooms and some of the stuff looks brand new.

“The road becomes very popular with motorists if there is a blockage somewhere, but now you have to swerve all over the place if you attempt going down there.

“It’s also a bridleway for horses, but it just isn’t safe for them any more.

“The council needs to just clear the rubbish as soon as possible, but I’m not sure what can be done to stop it happening again.”

Castle Point Council has said it will clear the rubbish, but is waiting on its waste contractor, Pinnacle, to tackle it.

Council leader Colin Riley said: “I’m aware of the problem.

Normally, when a call is made to our street scene department, it goes out straight away and removes the dumped rubbish, but this is a particularly large amount.

“Our van would not be able to pick up everything .

“Unfortunately, as Coniston Road is an unmade road, we can’t put up signs to deter people from flytipping.

“We will go through the rubbish and look for letters or any other clues to help track down the people responsible.

“It’s just not fair to do this. We live in a society where we are doing more recycling and everyone should be looking out for the environment.”