A LOCAL resident has once again been forced to clear up after what she calls ‘the lunatic fringe’ has despoiled Dartmoor.

Pat Maylin from Ivybridge was appalled to discover the remnants of a booze-fuelled party in a disused quarry near the town this summer.

Not for the first time, she said, the spot near Stowford Moor Gate had been left littered with drinks cans and bottles, discarded food packaging, used toilet paper and even a tent.

She blamed the mess on ‘irresponsible teenagers’, and raised the possibility of Dartmoor becoming an alcohol-free zone, like many town and city centres, to address the problem.

Unfortunately it now seems that some have failed to take Mrs Maylin’s words on board, after she discovered yet more rubbish at the same spot. And she laid the blame squarely at the door of youngsters from the nearby school.

She said: ‘Once again, end of term at Ivybridge community college and the lunatic fringe have been out on the moor. There has been a party just inside Stowford Moor Gate in the disused quarry, once again there is a mass of cans and bottle and funnily enough, once again a tent - almost new - has been abandoned on the site.

‘Probably it was too full of cider and lager cans to drag away.

‘Some has now been cleared up but it was beyond our combined lifting powers to get it all off the moor.’

Mrs Maylin has written to Dartmoor National Park with her concerns.