A SHOP on Cinderford High Street has introduced stronger measures to discourage fly tipping in its car park after it was labelled a "disgusting health hazard" by residents earlier in the year.
The car park behind The Original Factory Shop in the town centre has been plagued by issues of "extreme" fly tipping in recent years, with people reporting that sofas, fridges, a vehicle leaking fuel and countless bags of rubbish had been dumped at the site - as well as in the surrounding streets - back in the summer.
Complainants said that several incidents had occurred at the site since 2019, and that the rubbish had attracted rats, had an odour and was visually "just abysmal".
Locals were told by the district council that the issues were the responsibility of the landowner to resolve, and Midcounties Cooperative, which leases the property to The Original Factory Shop, said they would put pressure on the tenants to introduce measures to secure the car park back in August.
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New restrictions have now been put in place at the site, including time limits for parking and a ten minute window to leave once the store shuts, as well as security cameras and signage to inform people of the measures.
A spokesperson for the company said: "At The Original Factory Shop we are committed to being a responsible neighbour to our local community.
"In recent months the car park outside our Cinderford store has subject to fly tipping.
"We have now introduced stronger measures to discourage this and have begun working with a car park management company.
"With them, we have put new restrictions in place to discourage fly tipping and other unsocial behaviour.
"This includes free parking for up to two hours during business hours to discourage longer term parking, a time-limit of 10 minutes after the store shuts at six pm to deter crowds from gathering, the installation of ANPR cameras at the entrance to prevent unsocial behaviour and the installation of signs to inform customers of these changes.
"We feel these steps are necessary to prevent further littering and instances of fly tipping and will continue to monitor this issue for the foreseeable future."