Volunteers have cleared 60 sacks of rubbish and a number of dumped bulky items from Horsenden Hill after finding parts of the popular Ealing beauty spot heavily affected by fly-tipping.
Nine volunteers from LAGER Can and North Greenford Residents’ Association (NGRA) carried out the clean-up earlier this month (5 September 2026), tackling rubbish along Horsenden Lane North, surrounding hedgerows and parkland.
The volunteers split into two groups after meeting at Horsenden Farm. By the end of the clean-up, they had filled 60 sacks, while larger dumped items, including a fridge-freezer, were piled up for collection by Ealing Council.
Local resident Dev Varsani, a member of both NGRA and LAGER Can, said: “I joined the group working along the Horsenden Lane North, the adjacent hedgerows and parkland, which were heavily flytipped.
“By the time both groups had finished working, we had filled 60 sacks with rubbish and piled up many large items – including a fridge freezer – for collection by Ealing Council’s cleansing team.”
LAGER Can leader Cathy Swift said volunteers also found a dried-up pond filled with rubbish, including several bags of what smelled like butter chicken.
She said: “This made the job hazardous as well as thoroughly unpleasant.”
Ms Swift said she checked the Love Clean Streets app and found a number of the fly-tips had already been reported but had been logged incorrectly, delaying their collection.
She said rubbish dumped on parkland should be reported through the app or Ealing Council’s website as a “Problem in a Park”, helping it reach the correct team and allowing the council to identify fly-tipping hotspots.
Fly-tipping along Horsenden Lane North has to be dealt with differently, with traffic management required before street cleansing teams can safely collect rubbish from the road.
Livio Birattoni, a volunteer with LAGER Can and Friends of Horsenden Hill, said: “I can’t help getting frustrated and even angry when thoughtless people trash one of the most beautiful places in the borough, but the feeling of satisfaction – as well as refreshments at the incredible Horsenden Loaf – when we’ve finished a mega-cleanup make it all worthwhile.”
Councillor Dominic Moffitt, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for climate action, thanked those involved in the clean-up and reiterated the council’s stance on fly-tipping.
He said: “Flytipping has no place in our borough, and we take a zero-tolerance approach to anyone who dumps waste illegally.
“We also want to thank LAGER Can, the North Greenford Residents’ Association and all the volunteers who gave up their time to help clear Horsenden Hill.”
