Scrap material from a bathroom and kitchen refurbishment has been dumped on a riverside trail sparking calls for the district council to install a CCTV camera on the site.

Carol Hardy, the deputy clerk at St Stephen’s parish council, was contacted online regarding an incident of “extensive” fly-tipping on the riverside trail near Bricket Wood.

According to Carol, workers from Thames Water had been working at the sewage works nearby and discovered the fly-tipped waste once they had finished.

The workers then had to move the waste in order to get their van past it but in doing so found an address hidden in the waste, which seemed to belong to whoever had dumped the waste.

Carol said: “Apparently, they [the Thames Water workmen] went to the address and confronted the guys, who said, basically, ‘it wasn’t us and you can’t prove that it was’.”

She added that it was a shame that the criminals had chosen that spot because it is a “beautiful lane”, but conceded that due to its quiet and remote location, it was “an ideal place to dump rubbish”.

Despite being deputy clerk of the parish council, Carol said they “don’t have the power to clean it up or put up CCTV”, but has urged St Albans district council to intervene.

Mike Lovelady, head of legal at St Albans district council, said: “The council treats the problem of fly-tipping very seriously and always seeks to prosecute those responsible.

“When we find out about any fly-tipping, we arrange for our contractors to clear the waste as quickly as possible. We are dealing with an incident in Bricket Wood and are working with the police to assess the most effective response.

“We will install overt cameras at suitable locations where we have identified that persistent fly-tipping problems exist based upon reports from the public and statistical evidence from our waste contractors.”

According to data published online, the district council has spent more than £27,000 this year on clearing fly-tipped waste.

Anyone with information related to fly-tipping in the area should call the council hotline on 01727 819598 or email a.cleanerdistrict@stalbans.gov.uk.

A spokesman from Thames Water said: “These repeat fly-tipping incidents are very frustrating and we’re now considering fitting additional barriers at our site plus CCTV cameras in the hope of preventing more in the future and identifying the culprits.”