Can you help catch flytippers who turned Sunderland pond into rubbish dump?

The hunt is on to catch flytippers who left a popular Sunderland pond looking like a rubbish dump.
Flytippers have dumped items including shopping trolleys at the pond at Downhill Sports ComplexFlytippers have dumped items including shopping trolleys at the pond at Downhill Sports Complex
Flytippers have dumped items including shopping trolleys at the pond at Downhill Sports Complex

A full clean-up of the pond at Downhill Sports Complex was completed by Sunderland City Council back in August, with motorbikes, a scooter, bicycles, wheelie-bins and a crossbow bolt among items dredged up.

Sadly, flytippers have returned to the site recently, with shopping trollies, an inflatable swimming pool, a garden slide, and a child's scooter among the waste recovered from the pond this week.

A shopping trolley dumped at the pond near Downhill Sports Complex.A shopping trolley dumped at the pond near Downhill Sports Complex.
A shopping trolley dumped at the pond near Downhill Sports Complex.
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The council says it is now considering installing CCTV to help deter and even catch the culprits behind any further offences.

Coun Paul Stewart, who is a Downhill Ward member and the City Council's Cabinet Secretary, said: "It's very tiresome how there are people out there who think they can dump their rubbish and waste in the pond.

"There's a minority of people who seem to be determined to spoil the habitat around the Sports Complex.

"Staff, who could have been employed on other duties, spent a lot of time and effort dredging the pond this summer.

The Echo's Clean Streets campaign is calling on people to help make Sunderland a more tidy place to liveThe Echo's Clean Streets campaign is calling on people to help make Sunderland a more tidy place to live
The Echo's Clean Streets campaign is calling on people to help make Sunderland a more tidy place to live
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"The pond was looking a lot better for the clean-up, and yet now staff have to go back because some people seem to think that it's okay to dump and leave their waste in it. Well, it isn't okay.

"The council is considering monitoring the pond with CCTV. I hope, too, that if anybody knows or has information about the people who continue dumping waste in the pond then come forward and we can look to taking action."

The Echo launched its Clean Streets campaign last year in response to readers saying the cleanliness of public spaces in the city ranked as a priority.

People can report fly-tipping and litter to the council at Sunderland.gov.uk or on 0191 520 5550 or their local ward councillor.