An access road plagued by mountains of fly-tipping so big it can be seen on Google Earth could finally be about to be cleared and more fines dished out.

For decades, mattresses, sofas and other large items of household waste have been piling up in roadside ditches along Wallhouse Road, near the River Darent.

One blighted business operating from the nearby Darenth Industrial Estate, Erith says the trenches have “more fridge freezers than Currys”.

KentOnline previously reported how in summer 2022 firefighters spent nearly seven hours battling a huge blaze on five hectares of marshland which was linked to the flammable fly-tipping.

Fed-up residents say it's a longstanding problem which only seems to “get worse and worse” despite constant pleas for someone to take responsibility for the problem which sits on a private access road.

Resident Kym Grant, 61, from Barnehurst, near Dartford, said: “My husband and son are asthmatic and they couldn’t even go out in the garden the day after the huge fire because the air was so bad.

“It is affecting the safety of the people in the borough whether they know it or not. It is getting worse and worse.”

She is terrified there will be another fire, especially with the number of tyres dumped in the ditches.

But now the situation is finally looking up.

Bexley Council has announced it has put in a bid to secure funding from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to install CCTV cameras along Ray Lamb Way and Wallhouse Road.

Berkeley Homes, an adjacent landowner, has also offered to fund new security measures on the land.

The plans would also see a realignment of ditches and the installation of natural barriers along the ditches.

There is also a plan to create new culverts to improve water flow as the area is prone to serious flooding.

Neil Fuller, a boss of a local timber merchants on Wallhouse Road, says persist fly-tipping has been an issue for years and has previously warned it will take a “terrible accident” to act as a catalyst for change.

It comes after he almost lost his entire business in July 2022 when the hot weather caused a fire which sent the contents of the ditches up in flames.

The managing director of Alsford Timber said: “The fire brigade broke down the door ready for £2 million of time to go up in flames but it stopped 100 yards from the wood thankfully.”

Despite past issues he says he is positive Berkeley Homes will be the “saviours” for the area and he has welcomed their intervention.

“Once they start construction they will make it work because they are not going to build hundreds of houses and make a multimillion-dollar investment and not sort out the fly-tipping in their backyard,” he added.

Ruth Silvester has owned nearby Dartford Composites, a specialist fibreglass manufacturer trading for more than 35 years in the area and a major supplier to the rail industry in Kent.

She says the litter-strewn road has been a huge issue for her business also.

“The ditches have more fridge freezers than Currys,” she said.

“It’s the last image you want to convey when you are welcoming senior managers and high-profile clients from across the country.

“We are a legit company and it is damned embarrassing.

“You are associated with the image of the area you are working in and it is not a nice environment for them to be traveling through.”

Over the last few years fridges, tyres and other large items dumped in the roadside ditches has led to flooding which has disrupted work on their factory floor.

Production has had to be suspended at times after workers arrived to find the majority of the 9,000 sq ft factory surrounded by water and its compressors flooded.

But one of the biggest fears for Ruth is the safety of people walking to work down the road which is the only thoroughfare to a busy industrial park employing more than one thousand workers.

“There is no footpath and you are almost walking in the middle of the road because the rubbish spills out so far on the side of the roads,” she explained.

“A lot of people walk down that road and it is an accident waiting to happen.”

But local councillor for the area Stefano Borella is hopeful things are looking up.

Cllr Borella, who is leader of the Labour Group at Bexley Council, said: “As councillors for the area, we have tried for many years to stop the fly-tipping issue on Ray Lamb Way which has been taking place over many years, which is criminal behaviour,” he said.

“We are hopeful that the new proposals from Berkeley Homes and financial bid to the Defra from Bexley Council, will resolve this issue and make fly-tipping more difficult in this area.”

Cllr Borella added: “We want to return this area to the wildlife not the fly-tippers.”

A spokesman for Bexley Council said: “We are continuing to engage with the landowners, the environment agency and local businesses and are working on plans to increase CCTV coverage, introduce new deterrents, and clear the accumulation of waste, which we hope to announce over the coming months.

“We regularly inspect waste deposits in Wallhouse Road and follow up on any evidence which is provided to us.”

It’s hoped the increase in CCTV will also help hold more perpetrators to account.

Last year the council issued 83 fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for waste deposits in Wallhouse Road, with a further 21 fines issued to waste carriers who were unable to present the correct documentation and nine to residents of the borough who failed to apply due diligence when arranging for a contractor to collect their waste.

A spokesman for the local authority explained: “We remove any waste which has been deposited onto the highway as quickly as possible.

“The ditches which run alongside the highway are privately owned and we are working on solutions with the landowner.”

Meanwhile, the Environment Agency said it continues to carry out “targeted days of action” with partners to disrupt those who are intent on breaking the law when carrying waste.

The public body says it will work to “develop a long-term and robust solution” to stop the complex fly-tipping issues on Ray Lamb Way and Wallhouse Road.

Berkeley Homes also recognised the ongoing problems of fly-tipping in the area.

Detailing a plan of action, a spokesman said: “In the short term Berkeley has agreed to fund the installation of new security measures along Wallhouse Road to help deter fly tipping and aid Bexley Council with enforcement.

“In addition, an application has been made to Defra to secure funding for improvements to the ditches along Wallhouse Road.”

Berkeley also announced plans to make further environmental improvements to the wider marshland in the area including a vision to enhance drainage, biodiversity, landscape management and public access.

The spokesman added: “The delivery of the wider set of improvements is dependent on the land to the south of Moat Lane being identified for development in a future review of the Bexley Local Plan.”