GARDENERS were left to pick up the pieces after fly-tippers dumped 20 tons of junk on their allotments.

The gate of the gardens, in Southdown Shaw, had been forced open and material including rubble, wire meshing and tractor tyres blocked the entrance.

A group of volunteer allotment holders had to shovel away the rubble to gain entry to the site.

It is one of a number of fly-tipping incidents in the area in the past few weeks.

There is an impending court case involving a man who was caught on CCTV dumping domestic waste in a public area on the Northcourt Estate.

But Meopham Parish Council is now facing a bill of around £1,000 to clear up the mess.

Parish council clerk Peter Tennyson said: The money it will take to clear this up could be much better spent on other things for the parish.

I dont know who did this because the eyewitnesses did not take down the number of the licence plates. But we have consulted Gravesham Council who have advised us how to clear up the mess.

Gravesham Councillor Michael Snelling said: Im appaled that someone has dumped rubbish in Meopham.

I am also appalled the parish council will have to pass on the cost to residents. I will be asking the borough council to make a substantial contribution to the cost of removal of the rubbish.

A Gravesham Council spokesman said: We spoke to the parish council on account of the fact that we have a team to deal with fly-tipping.

It will cost about £1,000 to clear up this mess and we are appealing to the public towrite down registration numbers of lorries suspected of fly-tipping. We will prosecute fly-tippers and name and shame them.