Fly-tipping vandals have their own key

DUMPING ground . . .Hartford Mill

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FLY-TIPPERS broke into derelict Hartford Mill and brazenly replaced the chains on the gates with their own padlocks before dumping van loads of rubbish on the site.

This is the latest in a series of incidents, which has seen vandals and arsonists targeting the Grade-II listed building for more than 20 years, since it was last used as a mail-order warehouse in 1992.

Ryan Parker, whose father Barry Parker owns the mill in Block Lane, Chadderton, claims he caught the fly-tippers red handed when he turned up to inspect the site last Wednesday (27) afternoon.

He said that he put chains on the gates to prevent people from breaking in, but saw that they had been cut off and replaced with a padlock, which he claims was put on by those who are fly-tipping.

Mr Parker (33), who works in property management, said: "When I went into the mill grounds someone had put a padlock on my gate.

"I was investigating as I wanted to see what needs boarding up, because people are breaking in.

"I saw a wagon pulling in and I took pictures of the vehicle before it sped off.

"I was running after it and I saw people getting out of the vehicle trying to open the gates.

"There were about four people in the truck.

"When they saw me two men jumped back in. They were shouting abuse.

"This is the first time I caught them.

"While on the site I also came across people collecting scrap metal. They said sorry, we won't come back. There were kids on the site, they suddenly ran off and hid somewhere."

In 2004, the council secured an option to acquire the former cotton mill site to transform the area but this was put on hold when the Government stopped Housing Market Renewal (HMR) funding.

Since then, the land owner has looked at a number of conversion options but in the absence of any substantial grant funding and demand for apartments or commercial uses on the site, the abandoned five-storey building has continued to blight the area.

Mr Parker has been in talks with Oldham Council to see if they can provide assistance with the ongoing situation.

"The rubbish is building up," he added. "There's tons of building waste ­- sinks, baths, everything. The police said they can't do anything as it's private land and it's a civil matter.

"We're in the process of getting it demolished ­- it's beyond repair.

"It's costing thousands of pounds to do this every year to make it safe so people don't break in."

Future regeneration plans are dependent on the site owner gaining planning permission for development of the entire plot of land.

Oldham Council leader Jean Stretton said: "The issues at the Hartford Mill site are of real concern to Oldham Council and other agencies within the local area.

"However, this is a privately-owned mill on private land.

"We recognise the need to resolve the problems and the owner has reassured the council he is putting in place measures to prevent people from entering his site.

"We are working very hard with the owner in order to bring about a long-term solution. "The current situation is not fair on anyone, particularly local residents."