FLY-TIPPERS have been dumping rubbish into wheelie bins in a Newport cemetery, the city council has said.

A reader sent in these photographs of overflowing bins at Christchurch Cemetery in eastern Newport, and in some areas the ground nearby was strewn with household waste including plastic bottles, cigarette packets, and pizza boxes.

The mess has since been cleared, and a spokesman for Newport City Council said the local authority "will be monitoring the sites more closely for signs of any household or other waste being fly-tipped".

The fly-tipping at Christchurch Cemetery follows a similar incident in Torfaen, reported by the South Wales Argus last week.

There, people had dumped their own household waste – including nappies, food waste, and old suitcases – in and around large commercial bins owned by Cwmbran RFC.

Newport's cemeteries were closed in March as part of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown of non-essential public spaces.

The council re-opened Christchurch Cemetery, along with its three other cemeteries (St Woolos, Caerleon, and Llanmartin) and Gwent Crematorium, on weekends and bank holidays for mourners and grave visitors only.

That means, however, that Christchurch Cemetery is open to road access on weekends, and there is concern that some people are driving into the cemetery for no purpose other than to take advantage of the large bins meant for mourners' old flowers and wreaths.

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Dennis Bickerton, who sent in the photographs of the rubbish, said "every bin was overflowing" and it was "obvious the rubbish put in the bins was household [waste]" when he visited Christchurch Cemetery last week.

Mr Bickerton contacted his local councillor, who said the matter would be dealt with urgently. When Mr Bickerton returned on Saturday (June 13), he said the cemetery was "spotlessly clean".

"Hopefully [the council] can keep an eye on it in future," he said.

The council spokesman added: "We would encourage all residents not to dispose of waste in the bins once they are full, and to report any fly-tipped waste to us through our online reporting system."