A LAWNMOWER, old furniture, discarded cardboard boxes and bags of waste were dumped in a park in the latest in a spate of flytipping.

One dad told how the mound of rubbish, off Durham Road, Laindon, nearly reduced his young son to tears.

It was dumped over the bank holiday weekend. Basildon Council has now launched a clean-up operation, with the flytipping set to be cleared by tomorrow.

Residents spoke of their disgust as they told how the dumped rubbish is blighting a popular walking area.

Robert Mills, 46, who lives in Vange, spotted the rubbish on Monday as he enjoyed a day out with his family.

He said: “There is quite a bit of rubbish there. It was quite distressing to see it.

“My youngest child is five-years-old and he was almost in tears when he saw it. It is heartbreaking - no child wants to see that.

“He asked me why people were throwing rubbish in the bush and I just said they were naughty people.

“Most people want to look after where they live and then you get someone doing that.”

He has reported the flytipping to Basildon Council, which is responsible for clearing dumped rubbish from public land.

Mr Mills is urging residents to report incidents of flytipping to the police and local authority in the hope the culprits will be caught.

He added: “One woman who lives nearby said that she heard the van dumping it off.

“She looked out the window but due to the angle the van was parked at and the darkness she couldn’t make out the number plate.

“I hope she reported that to the police, though, as even without the number plate they can build up a picture of what is happening.”

Taxpayers were left with a £20,000 clean up bill after 100 tonnes of rubbish was dumped in Pitsea Hall Lane, Pitsea, close to Wat Tyler Country Park, two weeks ago.

At the end of April, 40 tonnes of rubbish was found strewn opposite St Nicholas’s Church, in Laindon.

A Basildon Council spokesman said: “Any flytipping on public land is cleared within two-and-a-half working days once reported to the council.”