By Jenny Barwise

Last updated at 12:52, Thursday, 15 November 2012

Paragliders’ lives are being put at risk by fly-tippers dumping their rubbish at a launch site.

This is the view of a paraglider who is disgusted by the amount of waste that is being strewn on the cliffs at Lowca.

The man said that for the past two weeks he had noticed bags of rubbish, wooden pallets and even a carpet on the cliffs, known as the Old Mining Head, near to Lowca Rugby Club.

One of the paragliders was left with a £100 repair bill after a rusty nail sticking out of a pallet ripped part of his equipment.

“Luckily he noticed what had happened,” said the man, “or the circumstances could have been awful. The pallet was partly overgrown with grass and when the wing went down it caught and ripped.

“We have been going up there for years. The rubbish is generally black bin bags filled with household waste. There was even a carpet there.”

Pat Graham, Copeland council’s head of services, said: “Fly-tipping is illegal, unacceptable and we take it very seriously. In this instance the bags have been picked up and our staff are looking very closely at the contents before deciding how we can take the case forward.”

First published at 12:48, Thursday, 15 November 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk