Over the last three years, tons of rubbish has been illegally dumped onto a Kent beach leaving asbestos, polystyrene and building waste to fester on shores beloved by fossil hunters.

Despite countless calls to the council, the local MP and the Environment Agency (EA) those living nearby fear too little is being done too late to save the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Reporter Megan Carr headed to the coast to see the damage herself.

Say what you want about the Isle of Sheppey but you can’t deny its once Blue Flag-awarded beaches were a thing of beauty, comparable to tourist hotspots such as Whistable and St Margaret’s Bay in Dover.

I love the seaside, it’s my place of calm and I often head to the Island to enjoy its beaches. But now it’s rare to find a patch of sand on the Island which hasn’t been plagued with microplastics and fly-tipped waste.

The illegal dumping, which has been filmed and reported at Surf Crescent, by Eastchurch Gap, and Warden Road by Warden Bay, is allowing all sorts of rubbish to wash into the sea.

I’ve been reporting on this situation for a while now and every time I see the pictures I look at them in disbelief.

Why does it seem that no one, apart from a select few, seems to care? It took 36 months for the EA to shut down just one of the sites – far too long in my opinion as irreparable damage has already been done.

Imagine if this was happening along the Jurassic Coastline in Dorset, there would be an outcry, why does no one care about it here?

Minster Leas beach was one of just a few places on the Island to still have the prestigious Blue Flag title this year. It was sadly pulled after a lack of RNLI volunteers meant it no longer met the requirements of the award.

So, you can imagine my shock as I stepped onto its pebbles and found piece upon piece of washed-up asbestos.

Minster fossil collector Daniel Hogburn took me to the seafront stretch and explained that pieces of the hazardous material had been washing up for years.

The 46-year-old set up the North Sheppey Coastal Conservation and Preservation Community on Facebook and has been reporting the illegal dumping activity in the area since he first saw it in 2020.

With every step I took, Daniel pointed out another piece of asbestos that was lingering between the pretty shells and seaweed that had washed up on the beach.

For me, one of the most worrying parts of the situation was that to the untrained eye, the asbestos just looked like any other pebble on the beach.

I looked on in horror as I watched little kids nearby playing in the same area I’d just been made aware of as being a hot spot for the cancer-causing substance.

While I was at the beach I came across a man litter picking. The gentleman, who had lived in the area for five years, explained that he tried to clean up the beach every day.

However, he explained the rubbish washing up on its shores had got worse over the last three years following the dumping taking place at Eastchurch Gap, which was just a couple of miles away.

When I shared my shock about the asbestos he just nodded sadly explaining it had been among the stones for years.

I couldn’t believe it, how had Swale council not done anything about this?

When a similar situation happened at Mount Batten Beach in Plymouth the area was completely sealed off to visitors until the area was safe. Why had this not been done on Sheppey?

According to an analytics website, the last time the substance was reported on Minster Beach was in 2013 – 10 years on and it still seems to be having the same issues.

I contacted the council asking if they knew of the situation and why something hadn’t been put in place to clean up the area.

A spokesman said: “Asbestos is prevalent at all shingle beaches around the coast due to the sheer amount used for building in the past. Some will be from illegal tipping, some from buildings going into the sea and some being brought in from farther afield by the currents and winds.

“We have taken the advice of various agencies and the asbestos, similar to that pictured, is low grade and low risk in the open air, wet setting. The example at Plymouth found much higher quantities than in the current case at Minster.

“We employ a beach cleaning team who monitor and clear the beaches, and we also have an asbestos contractor who monitors Minster beach. Just last month they safely removed 50kg of asbestos from the beach.

“We of course are aware of the issues at Eastchurch, and our officers have visited regularly over the tipping period and continue to work to support all the agencies involved. The recent restriction order is a great result of agencies working together and we hope will stop any further tipping.

“Following abnormally strong and prolonged winds in June, we brought in an external contractor to carry out a two-day clear up and remove the larger items (of all materials not just asbestos) that had washed up.

“We will continue to monitor the beach and would take the necessary action if we felt there was a risk.”

After speaking with the council I did begin to understand this was a bigger issue that we couldn’t just blame one person or organisation for. But this still didn’t ease my feelings about the situation.

Daniel believes the rubbish washing up on Minster Beach is a result of the dumping operation which had been taking place at Eastchurch Gap so I also decided to visit Warden Bay to see the area for myself.

Now part of the reason why I believe people are not understanding the seriousness of the fly-tipping issue on the Island is that you cannot see it from the main beach by the beach carpark. You need to walk a fair few kilometres to reach it.

It isn’t an easy trek either, the area, well-known for its clay fossils is, funnily enough, covered in slippery and sticky clay.

I didn’t make it as far as the Eastchurch Gap on my visit but I did come across the other active site at the top of the cliffs by Warden Road.

You can see the layers of rubbish that have been buried in the hillside.

This isn’t just a few odd lorry loads being tipped off the edge it looked like an actual landfill site.

Processed rubbish is being carefully tipped and then buried under soil and mud – it’s a well-oiled machine and operation, in my opinion, is a crime against nature and the local community.

The large chunks of building waste along the beach were one thing, as were the metal door handles, plastic bottles and bathroom tiles that had been chucked down the cliff.

However, as I inspected the area more I noticed the stones beneath my feet starting to make a strange squeaky noise.

Bending down I had to do a double take. What I thought were pebbles were actually in fact thousands and thousands of pieces of broken-up polystyrene.

I was gobsmacked, how was this OK and overlooked? Every time the tide comes in all those bits of teeny tiny pieces of rubbish are being washed back into the sea. Just disgusting.

In the picture below what looks to be pebbles and general beach rubble, underneath the cork and occasional micro-plastic, is in fact processed, chopped-up polystyrene.

I contacted the Environment Agency and asked them if I could speak to someone in person so I could ask more in-depth questions about the situation. The organisation would not arrange this.

However, a spokesman for the EA said: “Waste crime harms the environment, and we know it has a devastating effect on communities. That is why we recently used a court order preventing waste from being left on land at Eastchurch Gap that now has no access, as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into alleged waste crime.

“The Environment Agency continues to gather evidence, working with Kent Police and other agencies across Swale. This includes regular site visits, and we keep all enforcement options under constant review.

“We urge anyone with new concerns about the handling of waste in the area to contact us immediately on 0800 807060, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111. All calls are confidential.

“Our powers to tackle waste crime include prosecuting those we believe are behind the dumping of waste illegally, which can lead to prison sentences. Among other measures, we can use court orders to close down sites, such as we have done at Eastchurch Gap.”

Although it is clear action is finally being taken to stop this environmental disaster I do have to stop and wonder how the Island got itself into this situation in the first place.

I think we all know that it just comes down to mankind destroying nature as it has done for thousands of years, but why are people not concerned?

Is it because there are many who are uneducated and truly do not realise the severity of the situation? Or is it because ignorance is bliss and what you don’t know can’t hurt you, although it might ruin the lives of your children and grandchildren in the years to come?

What are your opinions on the situation? What do you think can be done to resolve this or to clean up the damage which has already been done? Let us know by emailing the timesguardian@thekmgroup.co.uk