Additional reporting by Tom Pyman

Owners of fly-tipped rubbish will be taken to court.

Residents in Paddock Wood reported the environmental nuisance which was dumped at the junction of Church Road and Mile Oak Road, near the Elm Tree Pub in Paddock Wood.

Now Tunbridge Wells MP Greg Clark has written to a resident who complained about the rubbish.

In the email Mr Clark said: "Kent Highways has told me that a Section 77 Notice was served on 10 January giving the person 24 hours to clear the site.

"As this wasn’t complied with, a Court Order has been applied for that requires immediate departure.

"Should the Court Order not be followed, bailiff action will be taken.

"So hopefully this issue will be resolved very soon."

Despite this a mattress has been reportedly added to the pile.

It has previously been revealed Tunbridge Wells had 704 reported incidents of fly-tipping in 2016/17 which cost £63,343 to clear.

That is up from 696 reports in 2015/16, according to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Meanwhile, it emerged last week that there was an increase in the number of incidents in Maidstone borough, with 973 reports compared to 796 in the previous year - totalling a bill of £96,470.

The rise was particularly frustrating for environment bosses considering Maidstone has its own free-to-use household waste recycling centre in Burial Ground Lane, Tovil.

Neighbouring Tonbridge and Malling also experienced an increase of 143 incidents, from 505 in 2015/16 to 648 in 2016/17, however this was the lowest total in the county.

A spokesman for Kent County Council today confirmed a section 78 order had been awarded by magistrates today.

The order means occupants of a site must leave as soon as it is practicable.

It is not clear if this will impact the removal of the rubbish.