A fly-tipping hotspot in Saddleworth was hit with one of its biggest piles of rubbish yet in what locals suspect was an ‘abandoned cannabis farm’.

The waste was dropped on Harrop Edge Lane, just off Huddersfield Road near Delph. 

An ex-resident, who regularly commutes to the area and reported the site to the council said: “It was drug paraphernalia – it looked like it was from a cannabis growth. 

“It’s just disgusting. People who are dropping there think it’s out of the way – but it’s not. It’s near a very busy road.”  

The pictures show rolls of plastic sheeting, felt pots with soil, silver ducting and plastic garden sticks among other litter. The council have already removed the waste but were unable to confirm what the items were previously used for. 

“Oldham council moved it very quickly,” said the commuter. “And fingers crossed they will learn from this and potentially put a £15 battery-operated night-vision camera to catch people there.”

The incident is just the latest in a slew of fly-tipping sprees that has hit the area in recent months. Another large load was picked up on the A635, on a stretch of road known locally as Isle of Skye. 

“It seems to be getting worse,” said a local. “The amount of rubbish is just horrendous. 

“There are pockets of Oldham that are an absolute disgrace. Some places in Oldham are dirtier than city-centre Manchester – which shouldn’t be.” 

A spokesperson for the council, said the council was ‘working hard’ to crack down on fly-tippers at the moment. They said that while a vast majority of Oldham residents ‘clean up after themselves and dispose of their litter properly, sadly, a small minority don’t’.

“We do use CCTV cameras where appropriate as we know this is popular with residents,” they noted. “However, CCTV won’t catch every fly-tipper out there, as there are limitations to where we can put cameras and we also have to follow national guidelines.

The spokesperson added: “Over the coming months, we’ll continue to work hard to target fly-tipping hotspot areas, remove waste quickly and take action against fly-tippers and those who dump waste.”

Oldham residents can report incidents of fly-tipping on the Oldham Council website.