A man sick of watching flytippers dump rubbish on beaches took matters into his own hands after spotting two people trying to burn a dismantled shed at a naturist site.

Daniel Ward recorded the pair carrying waste onto Shellness Beach, near Leysdown on Sheppey.

After confronting them and not getting a straightforward answer he blocked in their vehicle with his campervan until the police arrived.

The 52-year-old said: “It happened last Monday evening.

“Many people come down to the beach and have little fires with some food and drink. They often bring magnets to collect any of the nails or metal bits that might not have burned.

“So I asked the people fly-tipping if they had a magnet to do that. I knew they were definitely dumping the stuff they had as it looked like a shed that had been ripped down.

“They were only going to burn it to try and cover up their tracks. That’s why I called the police, they came about 40 minutes later.

“The pair of them were there for hours because when the police turned up they told them to clean up their rubbish.”

Police confirmed they were called shortly before 9pm on Monday, July 17.

A spokesman said: “A patrol attended the scene where some wood was alight on the beach.

“The officers gave words of advice to two men who agreed to remove any debris once the bonfire was extinguished.”

Daniel, who moved to the Island during the second lockdown, explained that rubbish and fires left on the beaches around the Island are often blamed on people in campervans.

He said: “I’m fed up with it. These people are the fourth ones I’ve had to stop from dumping on the Island’s beaches.

“I blocked their vehicle in with my camper so they couldn’t leave until the police arrived.

“I want them to be caught. They think dumping it on beaches like Shellness means it is out of sight out of mind. To make things worse I don’t even think they’re from the Island.”

This isn’t the first environmental crime to be recorded in the area.

The Environment Agency recently blocked access to a site which is thought to be used as an illegal dump site for the last three years at the end of Third Avenue, known locally as Eastchurch Gap.

It’s been reported previously that there are two dumping hotspots along the Sheppey coast.

Not only is waste being dumped by the Eastchurch Gap but also by Warden Bay.

Earlier this year a Minster fossil hunter claimed the area was being used as a dump for human faeces.

Gordon Henderson, the Conservative MP for Sittingbourne and Sheppey, believes general waste was being dumped over the cliffs and then covered by construction waste.