HUNDREDS of tyres and other rubbish were dumped in three separate large fly-tips in Times Territory, and the message from campaigners is “this has to stop”.

Angry Linda Lucas, of Howicks Green, Welwyn Garden City, said dumpers had been targeting a car park near Holwell Hyde Lake for months.

She told the Welwyn Hatfield Times: “We have had problems over the last four months with someone dumping a load of tyres.

“It started out at 20, then 50, 80 and now there are 130 tyres over there.”

Mrs Lucas said it wasn’t just the eyesore at the beauty spot that worried her, but the environmental impact.

She added: “The kids are throwing them into the lake.”

Another ugly dumping ground has developed at Robbery Bottom Lane, near Woolmer Green, where a 90 tyre fly-tip was reported, and is blocking a footpath.

And two sofas, cushions and slabs of concrete, were ditched in Symondshyde Lane, near Lemsford, at another impromptu rubbish tip.

Resident Virginia Bird said: “We are used to some fly-tipping in our lane but this was especially bad.

“It is so disappointing to find people behaving in such a very uncivilised way in this borough.”

Disgusted Kevin FitzGerald, director of the Welwyn-based Hertfordshire branch of the Campaign for Rural England, slammed the litterbugs.

He said: “It’s outrageous, it’s one of our major problems.”

And he said fly-tipping was on the rise, despite the penalties for illegal dumping being “theoretically severe”.

He added: “As well as being an eyesore it’s actually quite dangerous sometimes.”

Mr FitzGerald urged the public to do all they could to stem the tide of trash and said they should make a note of fly-tippers’ number plates, and report them to the police.

He added: “It’s a real, real menace and it shouldn’t happen in the first place.

“We’ve got to stop this.”

A spokesman for Welwyn Hatfield Council said: “Fly-tipping should be reported directly to the council on 01707 357000.

“Alternatively, a form on our website (www.welhat.gov.uk), alongside advice and information, can be used to report this.

She added: “If you see serious fly-tipping in progress, you should report this to the police on 999.”