CALLS have been made for action to be taken over "persistent" fires and flytipping at Pioneers Mill, in Radcliffe.

Fire crews from Whitefield, Bury and Broughton were again called to the site at 9.15am on Monday, April 23 after a large pile of rubbish was set ablaze.

At the start of April, the Radcliffe Times reported that the fire service had turned out to the mill at the bottom of Milltown Street on at least 10 separate occasions since May last year.

Tim Eaton, green watch manager at Whitefield, said: "We were called to Pioneer Mills again this morning.

"This is an ongoing problem. It was the usual thing. A large pile of rubbish had been set on fire.

"We are working with environmental health, our safety officers and the police to investigate the problem."

A community group has called for Bury Council to take action after discovering huge quantities of flytipped rubbish near he mill.

Little Britain Angler's, set up by a group of anglers to improve and protect the River Irwell and its surrounding environment, said yet more waste was being burned at the site.

Chairman Eric Owen said: "There has been more waste burned at Pioneer Mills and lots of flytipping. There has been flytipping everywhere including around the mill and on the main road into the mill site.

"Come on Bury Council pull your fingers out."

Bury Council said the burning of rubbish was causing "aggravation" for the emergency services.

They said they were working with the landlords to try and prevent the flytipping and fires at the site — which is privately owned.

A council spokesman said: "This is a persistent problem which causes a great deal of aggravation to the emergency services, to the council, and to anyone living or working nearby.

"This flytipping is taking place primarily on private land and is the responsibility of those who own or manage that land.

"Together with the police and fire service, we visited the site on Friday to talk to the site managers and some of the tenants to see what they could do to prevent burning and flytipping taking place on this site.

"Their help would also be invaluable in helping us to identify and catch the perpetrators.

"We retrieved some evidence during Friday’s visit which we are now investigating but we would urge anyone who has information about flytipping in Bury to report it to us which will help us take action against those who are spoiling our environment."