A POPULAR beauty spot is being treated as a "dump" for fly-tippers with mounds of burned rubbish discovered by a dog walker.

Disgusted resident Nina Udeen slammed those responsible for leaving the "unbelievable" mess after finding the rubbish in Sheepcote Valley, Brighton.

The popular walking route, which spans most of the South Downs National Park and extends into the city, was found to be covered in discarded waste and litter.

Photos and video from the beauty spot show the scale of the mess, with plastic bags and bottles covering the route.

Following the discovery, Brighton and Hove City Council said it will send clean-up crews to remove the rubbish "as soon as it can".

Mrs Udeen told The Argus she was "disgusted" by the "unbelievable mess" and called on the "shameful" Green council to do more to protect the open space.

She said: "Almost every day I walk our dog on Sheepcote Valley, along with lots of other dog walkers.

"It is a wonderful open spot stretching on the outskirts of the South Downs and is full of natural beauty and wonder. The views are magnificent.

"It gives me no pleasure nor does it give the other dog walkers, runners and hikers to see this marvel of open natural space being treated as a dump and it has and is being treated as such.

"I am horrified that the Green Party which I have voted for now for almost two decades ceases to be interested in the countryside, in local green spaces for local people.

"I cannot in good conscience walk past this mess one more day and believe Brighton and Hove Council have the heart or the conviction to clean it up, because they have not bothered to for at least six months, instead it has been left in an unbelievable mess.

"This isn’t a campsite, it is not a festival site, there are no dedicated litter pickers! It is our countryside!

"Do something positive for your constituents and clean it up.

"Do your job and look after our local countryside and live up to your name ‘The Green Party’. This is shameful.

"Truly shameful from a party who has ‘Green’ in their name."

It comes after dozens of CCTV cameras were installed at hotspots across the city, including the seafront, in the hope catch fly-tippers and litterers in the act.

Last year, cameras were placed on street lighting columns to monitor the lawns and the central beach.

A Brighton and Hove City Council spokesman said: “Unfortunately, we believe someone has seen fit to fly tip at Sheepcote Valley, and we believe this rubbish may since have been burned.

“Fly-tipping is an unacceptable environmental crime. It’s a local and national issue that blights every council and is one we take very seriously.

“This incident hadn’t previously been reported to us.

“We’re grateful to residents who do report these things so we can get clean-up crews out – which we will now do as soon as we can.

“We would encourage anyone with concerns about litter or fly-tipping to complete the ‘request a clean-up’ form on our website so that we can arrange to deal with it.”

“We would also urge anyone who may have information about this fly-tip to contact us.”