Fly-tipping is again blighting the village of Shoreham.

With no incidents reported since December, residents had hoped the ugly issue had gone for good.

But this week a fresh pile of waste appeared in Redmans Lane – in a lay-by with a notice threatening fly-tippers with court action. Shelly Hancock, 38, of Redmans Lane, said: "They come here in the dead of night and it just keeps happening. It's so annoying that people think they can come down here and get away with it.

She added: "It's bad under the motorway bridge too. There, it's piled so high sometimes you come round the bend and you can't see where you're going. It's quite dangerous."

She added the problem was not confined to Redmans Lane: "Down the road, you can see where cars have been burned out."

The pile of rubble and dirt, mouldy carpets, broken furniture, a single mattress, a sink and an old hi-fi shell appeared at the side of Redmans Lane on the weekend of April 3 and 4. Locals say the eyesore, impossible to miss when driving towards Well Hill, is ruining the picturesque village.

Passing cyclist Nigel Tally, 57, from Chislehurst, said: "I'm in the building trade and it gives people like me a bad name. In fact I pay £100 a time to have a skip take my rubbish away.

"This is a beautiful place and yet there's almost nothing you can do about it. If the council made it cheaper to get rid of waste, people might not take the easy option and just dump it."

Shoreham Parish Council clerk Barbara Ide said: "It happens a lot, especially in Redmans Lane and Cockerhurst Road. I hadn't seen anything since December but I guess now it's getting to the spring clean season so we're going to be seeing more.

"There's not a lot we can do. We can only report it and Clear Kent follow up the reports and clear it up very quickly."

A spokesman at Kent County Council said: "Clean Kent supplements the work of the District Council. We have 'fly squads' who go in and clean up. We also have an enforcement arm and are able to investigate where this stuff has come from."

Sevenoaks District Council logged three reports of fly tipping in Redmans Lane last week.

Spokesman Daniel Whitmarsh said: "Our fly tipping removal team will attend these sites in the next couple of days to remove any rubbish left on the public highway or on Sevenoaks District Council land."

Report rubbish dumped on public land on 01732 227000. You can also call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.