Fly-tippers left residents of a hamlet cut off on Monday after 100 tons of rubbish were dumped overnight on the only access road to homes and businesses.
The ten-foot-high mound of rotting waste was left in a country lane running to around a dozen homes in Curborough, near Lichfield in Staffordshire.
While the community can also usually be accessed from the other end of Watery Lane, that section of the road has been closed for nine weeks for roadworks connected with the construction of a new housing estate.
The dump meant residents were therefore unable to leave the hamlet by vehicle.
The 80-ft long fly tip also blocked access to Curborough Hall Countryside Centre (CHCC), a collection of 40 small businesses, shops and cafes on Watery Lane – leaving owners counting the cost of the rubbish dump.
Richard Cox, a local district and county councillor who visited the scene on …