Furious villagers hit out yesterday after fly-tippers dumped a huge pile of rubbish in the middle of a road - in the latest in a succession of incidents to hit Northumberland.

People were appalled by the latest incident to scar the countryside after three tonnes of waste was strewn across the road off the A696 between Ponteland and Belsay.

The carriageway was virtually blocked for 30ft by steel girders, bricks, an old bath, a hand basin, doors, carpets, nail-studded wood and glass.

Villagers said it could have caused a serious accident for motorcyclists or drivers using the road in darkness.

Demolition and household waste is regularly dumped in laybys, hedgerows, fields and allotments in rural areas, but this is believed to be the first straight onto a road.

Councils and the Environment Agency reported more than 82,000 incidents in the North-East in 2005/6 - and it cost almost £6m to clean them up.

The agency was recently awarded £155,000 funding by Defra to tackle the scourge, and appointed fly-tipping enforcement officers in Northumberland and the Tees Valley.

The agency and Castle Morpeth Borough Council were investigating the Belsay incident yesterday and local authority workers moved in to clear the mess. Less than two months ago almost two tonnes of rubbish - including exercise bikes, computers, microwaves and a piano - was dumped in a layby just off the A696, near Belsay.

Belsay farmer Richard Dodd, regional director of the Countryside Alliance, said yesterday: "Whoever did this has simply pulled off the A696 and tipped the contents of a wagon all over the minor road to Whalton and Ogle.

"It is disgusting and quite dangerous, with glass and rubble all over the road. Fly-tipping is a big problem in rural areas because people are charging £100 or so to get rid of household rubbish, which never gets to the tip."

Mr Dodd's wife Irene, who discovered the mess while driving to work yesterday morning, said: "It is really dangerous because it has been dumped over half the road and near a junction. It could have caused an accident and it is just very upsetting."

Castle Morpeth Council spokesman Chris Jennings said: "This is one of the worst fly-tipping incidents we have ever known.

"The irresponsible person or people behind this criminal activity dumped more than three tonnes of waste, literally in the middle of the road.

"We had to act quickly to remove this rubbish, which filled two pickup trucks, to avoid a serious road accident." Investigators were scouring the rubbish for evidence to help trace it back to its source.

Bob Smith, the agency's fly-tipping enforcement officer for Northumberland, said: "Fly-tipping like this cannot be tolerated. We are all paying the price for these crimes because we fund the clean-up through our council tax."

The maximum fine for unauthorised dumping was recently raised from £20,000 to £50,000 and the agency is working closely with local authorities in Northumberland and Tees Valley to track down offenders and put them before the courts.

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Fly-tipping incidents across the North-East:

April: Vandals dump rubbish in Northumberland Wildlife Trust's nature reserve at St Nicholas Park, Gosforth, Newcastle.

March: George Rogerson, 41, of Ashington is fined £250 and his truck confiscated by Bedlington magistrates after admitting fly-tipping.

February: Parents are appalled after used syringes and needles are dumped near a popular Riverside Walk off Keelman's Way, Gateshead.

February: Council workers take hours to remove nine tonnes of rubbish dumped on allotments in Cresswell, Northumberland.

January: Rubbish is fly-tipped in Kenton shopping centre, Newcastle.

November 2006: Calls for stiffer penalties for offenders after 24 tonnes of fly-tipped waste is removed in a month from land near Newcastle Town Moor.

October: Castle Morpeth Council is forced to shut its bottle recycling bank in Ponteland after people persistently dump general refuse there.