CALLS are being made to beef up security measures at a Southampton park in a bid to combat fly-tipping.

It comes after bags of builders waste, a fridge freezer and a dirty mattress were dumped on Daisy Dip in the early hours of Monday night.

Resident living near the park, in Swaythling, say the rubbish was fly-tipped by a group in a flat-bed truck.

They say the group drove down a footpath to gain access to the park, before dumping their waste near a concrete games area.

Swaythling councillor, Bob Painton, described incident as “very annoying”.

He has also called on civic chiefs to install new security measures to stop fly-tippers from targeting Daisy Dip.

He said: “I’m dead against fly-tipping because it ruins the area for everyone.

“I think if the council were to install some sort of barrier with a lock to stop vehicles getting into the park.

“The way this group used was the same way service vehicles do or the same way tractors use to get down there and cut the grass.

“Having a locked barrier would make it difficult for fly-tippers to get down there.”

Mr Painton said the recent fly-tip is one of a number of incidents at Daisy Dip.

The Conservative councillor said he has heard of at least five in recent months and 12 during his time as ward member.

He said: “It’s definitely a problem.

“You get some small bits from some local residents, but now people from outside know about it, it could get even worse.”

He added: “These people knew what they were doing because it’s quite a drop to get down there and they had their lights switched off.

“It’s not something for the feint hearted, they really needed to know what they were doing.

“Even then they got stuck while they were down there, because there are big tire holes in the grass.”

Since the incident Mr Painton says he asked civic chiefs about the possibility of installing a barrier at Daisy Dip, and he believes it will save the council money in the long-run.

Mr Painton added: “I think it will save money.

“This fly-tip is going to cost between £1,500 and £1,600 to sort out.

“But even that is small if you put it in the context of some we’ve had to deal with – one cost £50,000.”

Southampton City Council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, councillor Jacqui Rayment said: “All instance of fly-tipping we take really seriously.

“If we catch perpetrators we will always take action, but we need evidence rather than just hearsay.

“With regards to this incident, a permanent solution would be to get some sort of barrier, which is one option that we will look at.”