Police and council officials executed a dawn raid at a notorious caravan site this morning as part of a fly-tipping crackdown.

Officers turned up at Prospect Farm in Owls Hatch Road at 7am and seized a truck alleged to have been used in dumping rubbish.

The caravan site has previously been linked to fly-tipping at the neighbouring disused Share and Coulter pub.

Hardcore and other building material, including asbestos, has been dumped outside the pub, forcing Canterbury City Council to clear 174 tonnes of rubbish since the start of last year.

But Prospect Farm owner Arty Lockhart branded the raid “disgusting”, denying any involvement in fly-tipping and accusing the authorities of victimising him.

The 60-year-old insists the truck seized had only been on his site for three days and that its previous owners had left the country.

“As soon as the vehicle comes to us, they come down here because they’re after us and they’re trying to link the lorry to us,” he said.

“This raid is disgusting and the way they’re treating us is disgusting. They’re trying to antagonise me because they’ve got it in for me.

"But I don’t want to get into a row with them. I’m too old for that.”

The council set up CCTV cameras to monitor the Share and Coulter and says the raid is one of a number of inquiries it is pursuing.

Douglas Rattray, its head of safer neighbourhoods, said: “Early this morning officers from Canterbury City Council, with the support of Kent Police, entered Prospect Farm to search for evidence related to suspected flytipping in the district and any vehicles that may have been involved.

“A large tipper truck has been seized and will be taken from the site.

“Prospect Farm is close to the Share and Coulter, a disused pub, the car park of which has been repeatedly targeted by flytippers. It has cost the city council thousands of pounds to clear.

“Last month we released CCTV footage of a number of people we want to speak to in relation to the dumping of rubbish at the site.

“We are absolutely determined to catch flytippers and will do everything in our power to bring them before the courts.”

Officials from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency were also involved.

Mr Lockhart was seen leaving the site in his car at just after 9.30am.

The city council have also warned that anyone using unlicensed operators to dispose of waste faces prosecution.