Animals at Irthlingborough charity have new baths after fly-tipping donation

The tyres were dumped by the side of the A45.

Animals at an Irthlingborough charity will have new sand baths after the donation of tyres which were dumped by the A45.

Fly-tippers left about 70 tyres on an embankment next to a lay-by on the westbound carriageway near Higham Ferrers, on the edge of a popular fishing lake.

It was flagged to Highways England workers working on the nearby Chowns Mill roundabout project who immediately thought of NANNA Northamptonshire Animals Needing Nurturing and Adoption).

And much to the charity’s delight, they were able to donate some of the dumped tyres which are being transformed into sand baths for the chickens and geese and will also be used as planters.

Highways England project manager Dean Holloway said: “Fly-tipping and litter is damaging for the wildlife and the environment. These tyres were left next to a fishing lake.

"Clearing it up takes up workers’ time and resources which would be better spent getting on with improving the network. But at least in this instance we were were able to ensure something good came out of the reckless fly-tipping.

"We are always grateful for people’s patience when carrying out major projects such as the Chowns Mill roundabout improvements and therefore like to ensure we are being a good neighbour and to support local communities.

“We had previously visited NANNA to see if we could support them and they had mentioned needing a few tyres. So when these tyres were illegally dumped we knew they would appreciate some."

NANNA helps all animals from wildlife through to domestic pets and farm animals and has around 750 animals on their site at Irthlingborough.

Co-founder and trustee Petrina Alderman said: “We were over the moon that Highways England were able to help us. It was perfect timing as we needed a few tyres for our birds.

“We will paint the tyres and fill them with sand and soft soil for the birds to use as baths. It helps their plumage to stay nice and deal with any parasites.”

The Chowns Mill project aims to tackle congestion at the roundabout where the A45 is crossed by the A6.

The junction is now being redesigned as a half hamburger layout with a new link road connecting the A6 South and A5028 with the existing roundabout.