An East Kilbride firm has warned that part of an industrial estate in the town faces an exodus of businesses unless persistent fly tipping is tackled once and for all.
Ronnie McShane owns a roofing business and has been based at Carron Place in Kelvin Industrial Estate for a number of years but says he will move out due to mountains of rubbish being persistently dumped on his and others doorsteps.
Earlier in the year Lanarkshire Live highlighted the disgusting mess in the area - with a video of rubbish piled high under a 'Strictly No Fly Tipping' sign.
Now Ronnie says the area is as bad as ever, having witnessed for himself a truck load of waste being dumped.
He says it's so bad that refurbished units are lying empty with prospective tenants scared off by the fly tipping.
"It's horrendous - every time it's cleaned up even a bit, you turn around and it's as bad as ever, " said Ronnie.
"One of the units which we did refurbishment work on, the lease was meant to be signed this week and the tenants backed out at the last minute because of the utter mess up here.
"The dumping got worse during lockdown but it's been bad for at least seven years or so now - and no matter how many times we are reporting it nothing is getting done. I've even handed over addresses from stuff that's been dumped to the authorities.
"I have contacted environmental health, land services at South Lanarkshire Council and others - the emails and phone calls are endless.
"And it's not just a small amount of stuff that's getting dumped. I witnessed a whole truck load being tossed out.
"We will more than likely look for premises elsewhere - and we won't be the only ones. If as many businesses go as we think could go you are talking about easily 29,000 square feet of units lying empty."
The land is privately owned but Ronnie added that owners, M&co, have tried to tackle the fly tipping to no avail calling it an "impossible to keep on top of" due to the scale of it.
M&co declined to comment on the fly tipping other than they are "very disappointed" in the actions of South Lanarkshire Council.
Kevin Carr, head of facilities, waste and grounds services at the council, said: “When the issue was raised with us, ground services undertook a site visit and found it to be an area that is privately owned.
"As such, responsibility is on the landowner to clear the site.
“Nonetheless, during this visit officers were able to find some details on where the waste may have come from.
"This information is now being taken forward by colleagues in Environmental Services who can investigate instances of fly tipping on private ground and take formal action if a source is identified.
“We would continue to urge reporting of fly tipping issues to Environmental Services on 0303 123 1015 or through our website."
A spokesperson for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) said: "Fly tipping is not only unsightly but, depending on the nature of the waste, it can also be hazardous to health and cause environmental damage.
“SEPA has not received any recent reports of fly tipping at this location prior to the notification from Lanarkshire Live. We would like to thank them for bringing this to our attention and our officers will liaise with the local authority to investigate.
“Tackling waste crime can be challenging due to a lack of evidence about those responsible and the best way is to stop criminals getting their hands on waste in the first place. Everyone can help by checking waste service providers are licenced by or registered with SEPA.
“We continue to encourage anyone to report fly tipping activity via the Dumb Dumpers Stopline on 08452 30 40 90 or by completing a form at www.dumbdumpers.org.”
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