VOLUNTEERS who help look after a much-loved Southampton beauty spot are furious that it is being repeatedly targeted by flytippers and vandals.

Miller’s Pond Nature Reserve in Sholing which is a haven for urban wildlife and is famed for inspiring TV naturalist Chris Packham, is now becoming a hotspot for flytippers.

Fridges, mattresses, electrical items, a burned-out motorbike and a 60-inch TV box are among the unwanted goods that have blighted the landscape at the popular nature reserve that is popular with dog walkers and families.

While more than 300 tree leaves that had been planted by children over the weekend were ripped up and destroyed by vandals.

Now members of Sholing Valleys which looks after the area by holding regular litter picks and various events, are calling on Southampton City Council to do more to protect the beauty spot.

Sholing Valleys chairman, Chris Fry, said: “People just do not care and it amazes me, I would love to meet the people that did this and say what are you doing?

“Do they not realise that kids spent hours doing the trees and it is all part of trying to teach them.”

Earlier this year the Daily Echo reported that Southampton is the flytipping capital of the UK, with 6,000 incidents reported to Southampton City Council in 2013 and 2014, costing the authority £180,000.

Flytipping carries a maximum fine of £50,000 and/or 12 months in prison on summary conviction, while on conviction in Crown Court there can be an unlimited fine and or five years imprisonment.

Councillor for Sholing and Mayor of Southampton, Susan Blatchford said: “It is just so irritating that the Grange Road waste site is just up the road from Sholing Valleys yet people choose to flytip in Botney Bay Road.

“It does not matter where it is, whether it is Weston Shore or Sholing Valleys it is so sad that people can’t deal with their own rubbish.”

A council spokesman said: “The council’s parks and street cleansing service aims to clear all reports of fly tipping within one working day of reporting, and the local team based in Mayfield Park has always responded promptly when learning of new incidences of fly tipping within or close to Millers Pond.

“We will continue to work with the group who manage the area to clear any waste as promptly as possible, as waste materials left on site can quickly attract further illegal fly tipping.”