A road in Royton which has been dubbed a 'fly-tipping hotspot' after household waste and a cannabis farm was dumped there in the past month has seen boulders put down to block access, but not everyone is happy about the initiative.

New Coin Street has been a hot topic for Roytoners in recent weeks with many documenting the almost-weekly dump of household waste and discarded items littering the area and nearby river.

Just days after New Year's celebrations, a concerned resident discovered a swathe of fly-tipped items, including a bathtub, sofa and mattresses had been left in the wooded area off the street.

Less than two weeks later, a van was photographed in the area and was allegedly caught dumping more items - though a swift clean-up job less than 24 hours later posed more questions than answers as it seemed the waste mysteriously vanished.

However, by the end of January, residents came across newly dumped bin bags that were strewn across the woods and were even seen floating in the river.

It was later confirmed that some of the bags contained remnants of materials to grow cannabis, prompting the Council to call the police over the criminal contents.

But this amounted to New Coin Street being visited by fly-tippers at least three times in less than a month, and calls were escalated for CCTV and similar preventative measures to deter offenders.

Oldham Council said it would consider surveillance cameras after the cannabis dump incident but boulders have since been placed across the road.

Conservative councillor for Royton North, Lewis Quigg, confirmed in a post on social media that the rocks have been placed there by the Council in a bid to crackdown on fly-tipping.

But the move has been met with mixed views with some claiming the rocks will do little to stop offenders and branded it as an "absolutely ridiculous solution".

A man wrote: "I don't think this is a solution. How long before the first load of rubbish is tipped next to the stones?

"I hope I'm wrong - but yes, at least they're trying to do something which is to be applauded."

A woman agreed that she didn't think the blockage would stop fly-tipping to which a man said: "Maybe not, but it's a start. Personally, I would prefer to catch them, prosecute and crush their vehicles."

But another said he used the route to pick up his daughter from a nearby school and now can't access the road.

A woman agreed: "Great as the fly-tipping has been a real problem but not so great for those of us who use the road regularly for genuine reasons."

"This is typical of some brainiac having a lightbulb moment - I know, we will drop some rocks and block the road", wrote another who described the plan as a "waste of time and effort".

Meanwhile, others said they thought fly-tippers will drive up to the rocks and tip their waste over or around the makeshift barrier instead.

A woman said: "Front or back of those stones, there will be rubbish again."

"No amount of stones will stop it. Cameras are the only way to catch them but at least Oldham Council are taking some sort of action, if a little misguided", another comment read.

An Oldham Council Spokesperson said: “The council's Environmental Services have placed the rocks there to prevent access to this flytipping hotspot.

“We have installed signage and are examining the ability to install mobile CCTV cameras at the location."

The spokesperson said cameras are set up at certain sites across the borough.

They added: “As a council, we are always working hard to make sure the borough is clean and up to standard.

"It’s just unfortunate that people decide to disregard the law and dump their waste in these hot spots.

“If anyone spots any fly-tipping we urge you to report it online at www.oldham.gov.uk/flytipping."