Bolton: Tonge Fold residents disgusted with the state of the River Tonge

Along the riverbank, and in the river itself, that runs around Tonge Cemetery there is plenty of evidence of fly-tipping and people’s rubbish left behind.

The bank is awash with plastic bags, cans, bottles and other general rubbish, and in the water are discarded car wheels and tyres and scrap metal.

The area is popular with dog walkers and one in particular, 20-year-old forklift driver Jake Royle, says he won’t let his dog into the river any longer.

He said: “The River Tonge used to be lovely to walk down, now it’s full of scrap metal, car wheels and a lot more litter.

A car wheel and tyre discarded in the River Tonge

“There’s a landslide of rubbish at one part, like a skip has been emptied on down there.

“Last week it smelt like petrol down there. It’s getting disgusting. My dog likes to go down and drink the water, but I won’t let him.”

Other residents who walk their dogs in the area described a similar picture.

One even said they had witnessed a van dumping numerous black bin bags of rubbish on top of the excess soil that that had been dug for a grave in the cemetery.

Ina Moore and Samuel Bancroft live on Cemetery Road, and their allotment behind their house backs onto the river.

Samuel said: “It’s obnoxious, it really is.

“I used to go down and clear stuff out the river in my digger, but I’m told I need a permit now.

“I won’t do it anymore, but I went down and did it by hand once and got three trailers full of scrap metal.”

What concerns the pair even more, however, is the smell that Jake mentioned, which smells a bit like a solvent.

Samuel believes it is cellulose, a chemical used to make car paint.

Samuel Bancroft and Ina Moore with one of their bee hives

Ina said: “It’s been going on for three years now. Every now and then a lingering smell.

“We think it’s some form of industrial waste in the sewerage pipes.

“I get a splitting headache when I smell it.”

They keep bees on their allotment, and Samuel say’s that the smell upsets them, and they become more aggressive when it is present.

“I’m even scared of lighting a cigarette. If a spark got into the pipe, it would blow it all up.”

The pair praised Jake for raising the issue, saying he deserves a medal.

The council has been approached for a comment about the problem.