THIS is the despicable sight left for Poole neighbours who say their road has been under siege from fly-tippers for years.

Around 10 tonnes of rubble was dumped yards from homes in Merley prompting one resident to comment: "Enough is enough, the people doing this need to stop and it is high time the council stopped sitting back and doing nothing about the problem."

The building waste, probably dumped by unscrupulous contractors looking to make a quick buck, is the latest in a long line of environmental eyesores discarded at the end of Merley Lane.

John De Ritter, who says the secluded site is used as a makeshift dump every couple of months, added: "I have complained long and hard to the council about this problem.

"I have suggested putting in some bollards to stop people driving down, but so far I have heard nothing back."

The 66-year-old former surveyor acknowledged Poole Borough Council workers always remove the offending items, but says this latest load - the worst he's seen in recent years - is the final straw.

He added: "Someone needs to fire a rocket up the backside of Poole council.

"I spoke to them a while ago when some other rubbish was tipped here and got in touch with my local councillor. A lovely old dear came out and said, Oh my, well I will see if I cannot get a church group to come and do a bit of a tidy up.' "Well unless God drives a JCB, this time I think we are in trouble."

Council environmental and consumer protection officer, David Rickards, insisted fly-tipping is taken "extremely seriously" in Poole.

He said: "We were informed about the Merley fly-tipping earlier this week, but due to the size and type of this fly-tip we have had to arrange a digger and skip."

He promised the mess, dumped Sunday night and costing council tax-payers £500 to clear, will be removed next week at the latest.

Council traffic engineer Steve Dean said: "We have looked into the possibility of blocking off this car park area with bollards.

"However the car park needs to be accessible to act as a turning area for large vehicles as the road is too narrow for this."

But Mr De Ritter said: "The lane is just a bit of dead end road beyond our houses. It is secluded and has a kind of car park at the end where couples used to park.

"Why should large vehicles be using it in the first place? It is perfect for fly tipping," he added.

Although south west England had the fewest recorded incidents of fly-tipping last year, at around 50,000, the problem cost local authorities an estimated £73.7 million nationwide.