The type of rubbish being fly-tipped in the countryside around Sittingbourne has taken a nautical turn after a boat was dumped in a nature reserve car park.

In recent weeks, a number of lanes have been blocked by piles of rubble, and only last week most of a bathroom was abandoned in Upchurch.

Since the end of May, Kent Wildlife Trust reserve warden Alison Ruyter has been working out how to shift a boat left at Queendown Warren in Hartlip.

“It’s a 15ft power boat which has been stripped and dumped,” she said. “We’re going to try and get it on a trailer on Friday.

“Kent County Council has said we can take it to its waste-transfer station in Ashford.”

Mrs Ruyter, whose role with the trust covers reserves across Medway and the mid-Kent Downs, says fly-tipping was becoming an increasing problem.

“We have had a lot of problems with fly-tipping in the whole area,” she said.

“I’ve been reporting at least one or two incidents a week.

“So many roads have been closed recently. It’s been a regular occurrence this spring and summer that I’ve had to take a diversion.”

As well as being a target for tippers, Queendown Warren has also suffered thefts.

Between August 3 and 4, a metal water trough was stolen. It was the first trough to have gone missing from the reserve in a couple of years.

“We’ve taken to nailing them down and paint-marking them,” said Mrs Ruyter.

The troughs are connected to pipes, and thefts have led to leaks.

“It’s happened regularly enough that we carry equipment to make sure we can stop the flow of water,” the warden added.

“We’ve had incidents where the trough has been stolen and it hasn’t been noticed until the following morning, and we have to cover the cost of the metered water that pours down the reserve overnight.”

Anyone with information about the missing trough should call police on 101 and quote crime reference XY/030224/16.