Fury as oil is dumped at Northumberlandia in Cramlington

A total of 15 large drums of vegetable cooking oil, equivalent to 225 litres, were left at the bottom of Northumberlandia’s car park.

Some of the drums were also set alight, and the flames scorched the surrounding grass.

The site is no stranger to rfly-tipping. In the past, car tyres, shopping trolleys, clothes and even a filing cabinet have been abandoned there.

Situated in Blagdon Lane in Cramlington, Northumberlandia is visited by more than 10,000 people each year but only has Peter Ernst, estates officer for Northumberland Wildlife Trust, and a small team of volunteers to look after it.

Fly tipping has been a problem for the Trust for many years, especially at its Druridge Bay reserves, and appears to be on the rise with people discarding household items rather than paying a collection fee to their local council.It has asked the public to help it crack down on the problem by reporting any suspicious behaviour to the police by dialling 111.

Mr Ernst said: “We want people of all ages and backgrounds to enjoy, not just Northumberandia, but all our reserves, but we do want them to be given the respect they deserve.

“Such mindless dumping costs the Trust heavily in terms of time and money.

"In the case of the vegetable oil being left at Northumberlandia, because it is private land, the Trust will have to pay for it to be taken away.

"In all cases of dumping and fly-tipping on any of our reserves, it distracts us from our main job of conserving and protecting wildlife around the region.”