MORE THAN 100 tyres have been dumped on a Hampshire road in a bizarre example of a fly-tipping.

Rather than dump the tyres in a huge heap, the culprits left a mile-long trail of rubber along a remote route between Burley and Ringwood.

Neatly spaced at intervals of a few feet, the tyres created a lengthy chicane on a section of road near Verely Hill Car Park.

They are thought to have been dropped from the back of a lorry - possibly as a prank - on Monday night.

The tyres were removed yesterday by the Forestry Commission, which has joined forces with New Forest District Council in a bid to track down the people responsible.

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A Commission spokesman said: "It's suspected that a double wheelbase vehicle was driven slowly along the road while the tyres were thrown from the back."

According to figures obtained by district councillor David Harrison the authority had to deal with 875 cases of fly-tipping in 2014 and 777 in 2015.

He said the estimated cost of removing all the rubbish dumped in the Forest totalled £60,000 in 2015 alone.

Cllr Harrison cited the time, money and effort involved in tackling the issue and condemned what he described as the selfish actions of people "who could not care less about the harm they do".

The incident involving the tyres comes just days before more than 400 volunteers take part in the New Forest's annual spring clean.

Events will take place across the district this weekend as part of The Great British Spring Clean, a national campaign led by Keep Britain Tidy.

Organisations involved in the project include the district council, the Forestry Commission and the New Forest National Park Authority (NPA).

Council leader Barry Rickman said: “We live and work in a spectacular area and keeping it free of litter is just one way to help protect it.

"We would like to say a huge 'thank you' to all the volunteers who give up their time to come together and clean up our towns, villages, beaches and forest.

"Our thanks also go to our teams of staff who help keep the area clean all year round.”

Edward Heron, deputy chairman of NPA, added: "Litter is unsightly and extremely harmful to wildlife and the New Forest ponies.

"We would encourage as many people as possible to help us tidy up the Forest this weekend and raise awareness of this important issue."

Anyone who knows anything about the incident involving the tyres is urged to contact the district council by e-mailing customer.services@nfdc.gov.uk