THIS 18-tonne mountain of 'stinking' landfill has been illegally dumped at a Poole industrial park.

Workers arriving at Fleetsbridge Business Centre on Friday were astonished to discover the two-metre high mound of compacted rubbish in the middle of a staff car park.

Neil Cliff, senior partner at NMC property, managing agents for the privately-owned site, said they suspect the waste, which is compacted and steaming, has already been in landfill before being dumped at the business centre between 7pm on Thursday and 5am on Friday.

"We think someone has been doing some work and discovered it, dug it up and dumped their problem on on us. It looks like it has come out of a proper waste truck."

He said, subject to environmental health checks to ensure the waste isn't contaminated or dangerous, it will be taken away by contractors to the local tip.

"Clearly it could be very damaging to the businesses there in terms of appearance and access for their own staff and any visitors they may have."

He said they were seeking more information and would be investigating the possibility of a prosecution.

Neil Bullard, of Colonial Contractors - the man tasked with the clear up -told the Echo: "It looks like its been through a landfill spreader. Sometimes you get industrial units that have been loaded with landfill waste, so they can be used as illegal landfill tips.

"Then someone gets the call to clear it out and its fly-tipped. This is the normal debris you'd associate with landfill, its got that aroma as well. It is already starting to rot."

Meanwhile, Anthony Streets from Spectrum Housing, which has premises on the industrial park, said he'd never seen anything dumped on site of this size before.

"We've had the odd bit of rubbish from domestic homes, or even garden furniture, but nothing on this scale," he said.

Some of the businesses based at the park have CCTV, and site managers are making enquiries in a bid to trace the culprits.

Mr Cliff said: "This is the first time we have had anything of this magnitude - this is unique. But I suspect we will have to put some sort of CCTV facilities in place as the most appropriate way to prevent this happening again."

The centre is home to 18 buildings, six of which use the affected car park. It is owned by the shareholders in the Fleetsbridge Business Centre Management Company Ltd, who are responsible for the cost of the clear up, which is likely to run into thousands of pounds.

A Dorset Police spokesman confirmed they were notified yesterday morning of a large amount of waste dumped at the site.