The owner of a breakfast club has been forced to spend more than £700 clearing up fly-tipping.

Building rubble, wood and rubbish was dumped in an alleyway off Eastbury Road on Thursday morning.

It was moved to one side to allow children to walk through, but Tracy Hubbard, who runs a breakfast club out of the scout hut, may be faced with another bill to clear it up.

In the last 18 months, she says she has been forced to clear up fly-tipping five times.

“I called Watford Borough Council about it and someone came down, removed two bits of wood and said it was on private land”, she said.

“If it had not been cleared to one side, no-one would have been able to get through.

“I was gutted  when I saw the rubbish. I have paid for rubbish to be cleared at least five times in the last year and a half. There are young children who come here and there is wood with nails sticking out of them.

“It is dangerous.”

Cllr Andrew Scarth, who represents Oxhey Hall and Hayling at Three Rivers District Council, said the closure of Wiggenhall Depot in 2013 had led to an increase in fly-tipping.

He added: “Hertfordshire County Council has reduced the number of hours that tips are open for.

“At the time they were proposing to close the depot, we warned there would be an increase in fly-tipping.”