MORE than 20 tonnes of rubbish have been dumped in a Silsden country lane, a ward councillor claims.

Adrian Naylor says the loads of at least three large lorries have been dumped in Sykes Lane between the sites of proposed housing estates.

He is dismayed Bradford Council cannot take responsibility for moving the “industrial quantities” of rubbish because Sykes Lane is unadopted.

He said: “There are bricks in there, reinforced concrete and asbestos.

"It’s obviously required some serious machinery to pull out of the earth in the first place.

“The rubbish is being spread down the lane. It appears lorries are pulling down their backs and throwing things off as they drive along.

“It’s blocking the gates of fields so people can’t get their animals out. One guy has a big Shire horse and he needs to get it to shows, but there are tonnes of rubbish piled up.

“I would reckon there are about 20-plus tonnes. I think it’s been going on for a while, and now it’s being dumped on the track.”

Cllr Naylor said a large vehicle, such as a digger, would be needed to remove the rubbish, and responsibility for different parts of Sykes Lane might lie with several separate landowners.

He added: “Bradford Council says it does not bear responsibility because Sykes Lane is not an adopted road, and there’s nothing in the rubbish that could attract vermin.

"But I would question the safety when some of it is asbestos. It’s not something a wheelbarrow could remove."

Cllr Naylor fears the rubbish has been dumped because of increased charges for builders to take legitimate rubbish to council-run waste tips.

He said: “I’m seeing an increase in fly-tipping dumped in beauty spots."

Sykes Lane runs off Keighley Road, the main route into Silsden from Steeton, meandering through fields parallel to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Much of the land on both side of Sykes Lane has been earmarked for development, with two major schemes already under development.

One, near Keighley Road, features 140 new homes on an 11-acre site formerly occupied by the Becks Mill industrial buildings. A previous planning application for a new Tesco store on the same site was refused by Bradford Council in 2015.

The other, on a site alongside the canal, would see 51 new houses.