A pilot who regularly flies in and out of Wick Airport has highlighted vast amounts of fly-tipped material at a site recently vacated by travellers.

The pilot said they were concerned about the "growing problem" and sent aerial images which show the scale of the issue.

The site at Wick Business Park, which borders the airport, is now due to be cleared with the Scottish Government picking up the tab.

The pilot, who we have agreed not to name, said: "Over the summer, members of the travelling community set up camp on land in the Business Park in Wick, adjacent to the airport perimeter fence."

He added: "I noticed the amount of rubbish and debris that was left behind. I’ve attempted to contact Highland Council as the site cannot be seen from the road, but I’m not getting any response."

When contacted by the Caithness Courier - sister paper to the Northern Times - Highland Council said that it would "not remove items from private land". A council spokesperson said: “Fly-tipping is illegal dumping of waste and can be reported to the council using 24/7 online forms at www.highland.gov.uk/report.

"We can issue fines from £200 to £20,000 or the offender can receive six months in prison (up to five years if hazardous waste is dumped). We investigate, but do not remove items from private land.”

The council said that Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) are the landowners with responsibility for the land, and that the council's environmental health officers "can investigate on privately owned land if requested to do so by the landowners".

Police Scotland said that fly-tipping is normally dealt with by the local authority by means of a fixed penalty notice in the first instance. A Police Scotland spokesperson said: "It's quite rare for the police to become involved in investigating an incident of fly-tipping."

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Over the summer a substantial amount of activity was witnessed at plots three and four of the business park with travellers coming in and out. The smoke from huge bonfires could be seen from miles away and the remains of these could still be seen at the site earlier this week, with charred bicycles and other objects in them.

Across both plots are large swathes of fly-tipped objects that include the apparent remnants of building work such as plasterboard and bags of rubble along with fridges, toilets, bicycles, a large engine and even a trampoline.

It is not known if the council or police communicated with the travellers while they were living at the site but the local authority said it often "liaises with the people involved in unauthorised encampments" and progresses the "policy on supporting cooperation and managing unauthorised camps". This policy sets out the multi-agency responsibilities and arrangements for responding to roadside encampments and can be accessed on the council website at: www.highland.gov.uk/gypsytravellerspolicy

The council states in its document that "travellers may be actively discouraged from stopping at land being actively marketed for development" but would not comment further on why the camp was allowed to be set up on land that HIE has earmarked for business developments.

Eann Sinclair, area manager of HIE for Caithness and Sutherland, said that a local contractor will now clear the site for the government agency. Costs of the operation will ultimately be met by the Scottish Government.

Mr Sinclair stated: "I can confirm that works to fully clear the site at Wick Business Park were instructed last week through HIE’s property factoring contract, and work is due to commence imminently via a local contractor. Some preventative measures to stop a future reoccurrence have also been put in place."

Large boulders have now been set around the perimeter of the site to stop unauthorised vehicles from entering the site in the future.

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