Boozing ‘blighting local beauty spot’ (From Ledbury Reporter)

Boozing ‘blighting local beauty spot’

1:00pm Saturday 28th April 2012 in News

A LEDBURY beauty spot is being blighted by boozing, say town councillors.

Dog Hill Wood is now suffering from litter problems because of drinking sessions taking place there, according to Ledbury Town Council.

Fed-up councillors have now reported the anti-social behaviour to the police.

Town councillor Martin Eager raised his concerns with colleagues at a recent meeting of the town’s environment and leisure committee.

The littering has mainly taken the form of empty bottles and cans, especially in the area towards the top of the wood, known as “Monkey Island”.

The council’s actions in reporting the problem has been welcomed by West Mercia Police spokesman Chris Ammonds, who said: “If anyone has concerns about anti-social behaviour like this they should report them to their Local Policing Team as soon as they can.

“As soon as the information is passed to the Local Policing Team they will look to address those concerns and see what they can do to help deal with the problem.”

Town councillors are also concerned that a lack of coppicing on the west side of Dog Hill Wood is causing it to become “very overgrown”.

Several residents have also expressed their concerns about this, and the council will contact the Forestry Commission to see whether grants might be available for the coppicing work.