A PRIMARY school has spent thousands of pounds clearing up after thoughtless fly-tippers endangered the safety of pupils.

Fed-up after 10 years of enduring tipping in the grounds, head teacher Jan Cushing has now appealed to parents for help in catching the culprits and bringing them to justice.

Last week, the latest pile of rubbish to be pulled from beside the woodland nature trail at Manor Field Junior School, in Haydn Road, Brighton Hill, stood waiting for removal – again at the school’s expense.

The heap included tyres, a commode, garden cuttings and a child’s tricycle. Caretaker Nigel Gainford had already removed two acid-filled car batteries.

Viewing the pile of rubbish, Year 6 pupil Damion Foster, 10, said: “It is disgusting. It isn’t just us in danger, it is everything around us. Nature is in danger – all the animals.”

Mrs Cushing, who has lost count of the number of dumping incidents at the school, believes the rubbish is tipped over a fence separating the school from a path behind it. The fence has been repeatedly damaged by the fly-tippers. This has been reported to the police as vandalism.

“It’s really frustrating – we get rid of one lot and another lot comes over,” said Mrs Cushing. “We want to encourage the children to use the woods as a learning environment but we are having to make sure it’s safe before they go out there.”

The school has spent an estimated £3,000 repairing the fence, clearing the rubbish, hiring skips and cutting back the undergrowth after receiving advice that this would make the area less attractive as a tipping haven.

Mrs Cushing said: “Over a year, that money would pay for some learning support assistance hours to support children’s needs. It would also pay for refurbishing all the lower school classrooms in terms of furniture. And, of course, it is taxpayers’ money that is having to be used.”

Mrs Cushing said the community is good at reporting if anyone trespasses on to the school grounds, and now she has written to parents asking for them to act as whistleblowers if they know who is responsible for the fly-tipping.

“We are going to try to take this through to prosecution,” she said.