A PINK dolls' house dumped at the side of the road was just one of the unusual items tossed aside by fly-tippers.

The child's toy was part of 63 tonnes of waste dumped in West Oxfordshire in the year to March.

Other items thrown away include a car door, a bicycle, drums of antifreeze and rolls of wire mesh.

The unsightly haul has prompted West Oxfordshire District Council to create a new environmental task force - and it is warning that illegal dumpers could face five years in prison and a £50,000 fine.

Between April 2006 and last month, the equivalent of 24 household skips was dumped in the district.

It costs the council £55,000 to collect and dispose of the illegal waste each year.

The new environmental enforcement team will tackle all aspects of environmental crime, but has started off with fly-tippers to raise awareness of the responsible way to dispose of waste.

At the 'sharp end' is a two-man 'rapid response' hit squad, which works seven days a week to clear up the mess left by fly-tippers.

Bill Oddy, the council's head of community services - which includes the new team - said: "Every year, thousands of tonnes of waste are dumped in our countryside, at roadsides or in country lanes, costing thousands of pounds to clear.

"The council is dedicated to tackling this problem and wants to educate people about how they can legally get rid of their waste, without blighting our environment."

"Fly-tipping has always been taken very seriously, and great efforts have always been made to clear away fly-tipped waste as soon as possible - within 24 hours in most cases.

"However, we now have more resources to tackle the problem in the form of the environmental enforcement team.

"The council has always been keen to educate people, and this process will continue - although people must be aware that we will be making efforts to prosecute where possible."

He said the team would be working with Police Community Support Officers, adding: "They will be our eyes and ears. We are setting up a two-way relationship with the community."

Verena Hunt, deputy leader of the council, said: "Fly-tipping is so unnecessary. People may think it will be expensive to dispose of some bulky items or things like car tyres, but that is simply not the case.

"We want people to contact us to bring these selfish people to justice."

The team will also be singling out landowners who persistently fail to deal with waste dumped on their property - threatening them with £2,000 fines if they do not clear their land.