Ann confronts mystery bread dumper

A 74-year-old sleuth has tackled a phantom bread dumper responsible for tipping a mountain of loaves and rolls opposite her house.

Ann Hilton has been driven to despair by the fly-tipper, who regularly targets the patch of grass on Hollins Road. Tons of bread and cake have been left next to Watts Street.

The Chronicle reported earlier this month how the 74 year old, a full-time carer for her son, started clearing it herself, filling a wheelie bin with waste food each time.

But on Friday she spotted the culprit: “I saw this little man in a hoodie running with two black bags. He tipped two bags of bread rolls and loaves. At the corner there was a tall man with a big, white dog watching him.”

She spotted the man again on Saturday: “I asked him to talk to me and I wasn’t sure if he was going to stay or run away. I told him he must stop putting the bread there.”

The man, who was Eastern European, said he has been paid to leave the bread by a man from Ashton Road. Ann said she felt sorry for him and, fearing he was short of cash, took him to a local shop and bought him some milk.

He called her “a nice lady” and promised that he wouldn’t do it again.

“My daughter said I could have been stabbed but I wasn’t. I know I would do the same again,” said Ann.


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