Flytippers who dumped a huge pile of rubbish at a beauty spot have cost a charity £1,250 to clean it up.

Cliffe Pools car park at Cooling has been closed for a month while the Environment Agency and Medway Council carried out an investigation after a mountain of waste, including broken beds and rubble, was dumped outside the reserve’s main gates.

The RSPB, which manages the wildlife haven, has been forced to pay for the clean-up operation.

Will Tofts, RSPB warden, said the pile must have appeared overnight, between 10pm, on Monday, June 6, and 4am on Tuesday, June 7.

He said: “We had to wait for the council to start their investigation to get all of their evidence and then it was just a case of finding a rubbish collector. There was household waste, broken beds, garden materials and God only knows what was in the middle of the pile.

“There are cameras on the industrial estate opposite but they were turned off at the time of the flytipping.”

“It was a major clear up operation, a provisional invoice quoted us £1,250 but it might be more. The money we have paid out to clear the rubbish would have gone directly to the conservation of the birds on the reserve.

“There has been a lot of outrage about the flytipping on the Cliffe Facebook page. Every visitor I speak to is staggered by it.”

It has taken just under a week to clear the pile of rubbish and the car park was reopened yesterday (Thursday).

Mr Tofts said he couldn’t be sure whether the closure had affected visitor numbers to the site. The reserve is home to one of the largest colonies of avocets in the UK. Last year Cliffe Pools was home to 172 breeding pairs. The distinctive black and white bird is the emblem of the RSPB.

A Medway Council spokesman said: “Council officers are still following up several leads.”

Cliffe Pools reserve is open to visitors at all times and the car park is open daily between 9am to 5pm, except over the Christmas period.

To find out more visit www.rspb.org.uk.