Dumped chicken carcases spark investigation

The council received word of the dumped carcases at a picnic area off the A68 from a member of the public on 14 November.

Civic enforcement officers that attended the scene soon found more rotting meat dumped next to a bin in a layby. A few days later, the council received another report that crates of chicken carcases had been found in a layby on the B6275, just off the A68.

Third batch of rotten meat​

A third batch of dumped chicken meat was discovered on Saturday 23 November in another layby. All carcases and meat have been removed for disposal and a full investigation has been launched by the council’s trading standards’ animal health team.

Commenting on the dumping, Darlington Borough Council’s trading standards and animal health manager Dawn Taylor said: “Whoever dumped these carcases, which appear to have been professionally prepared, has probably done so to avoid the cost of proper, legal disposal. We will work with council colleagues and other agencies to search for the culprits and bring them to justice. ​

Identifying the culprit ​

“We would urge anyone who has information that could help us identify those responsible or sees anything suspicious to come forward.”​

Anyone with information regarding the dumped meat can contact Trading Standards via its website​​ or by emailing them directly.​​

Meanwhile, work to reduce food waste has seen significant progress, but more can still be done to limit the cost of wasted food to the UK,​​ according to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP).

To combat this, WRAP has recently updated its guidance on applying date labels and packaging choices for fresh produce.