A CAMPAIGN group has urged the authorities to help them protect a wildlife pond near to Duloch development sites.

The Save the Calais Woods Campaign carried out a clean-up of a pond on the Shepherd Offshore site last week but were frustrated to find that the waste they fished out of the water had been thrown back in within days.

Volunteer Martin Wilcocks, who set up the group, said huge amounts of leftover building site debris from surrounding housebuilding works have affected wildlife sites around the area.

"It’s an absolute mess and even though Save the Calais Woods campaigners have continually notified the council and developers, nothing has been done about it," he said. "Campaigners recently took it upon themselves to clear a pond of debris of around a dozen fall bags, some split and spilling thousands of polystyrene nuggets in ponds and over protected bird nesting grounds.

"We are now back to square one as it seems kids have thrown it all back in."

Martin said they had contacted Fife Council, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and housebuilders who they believe are to blame for some of the rubbish but have been disappointed with a lack of action.

"This sort of behaviour has been going on for years here and is fly-tipping and environmental destruction on a grand scale and nobody has done a thing," he said. "Something has to be said and done now.

"There is a huge amount of wildlife in that particular corner and it is another threat and it is just being disregarded."

Local councillor Fay Sinclair said the situation was difficult because the pond in question was on private land.

"I had contacted the safer communities about potentially lifting it," she explained. "They have gone and investigated it. The pond is in the Shepherd's site and the only access into it is through a hole that has been cut in the fence. They cannot uplift it – it is up to the landowner.

"They will be contacting the landowner to clean it up and also to secure the fence. It was a mix of builders' bags and sacks and also a lot of bottles so there's maybe a bit of youth drinking happening there too.

"It is for the landowner to clean it up as it is going to have a detrimental impact on the wildlife there."

The Press invited Shepherd Offshore to comment but they did not respond by the time we went to print.