A BIKE and a sofa are among a catalogue of items causing disruption to rail services after being illegally dumped in Port Glasgow.

An array of discarded goods has been discovered on the embankment at Kelburn Terrace, near to Woodhall station, with former Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie MSP and officials from Network Rail teaming up to highlight the issue.

Ms Goldie — a former Greenock Academy pupil — visited the site to see the mess after she was contacted for support to help tackle the flytipping.

The West of Scotland MSP was stunned to see a child’s bike, car seat, vacuum cleaner and sections of a sofa lying at the site, along with bags of rubbish and litter.

Ms Goldie now hopes to set up talks between rail bosses and officials from Inverclyde Council and River Clyde Homes — which is responsible for housing in the area — to come up with a plan to combat the problem.

She told the Tele: “The current situation is unattractive, undesirable and creating an unsafe environment.

“As the photo indicates there is a problem with a mixture of litter, heavier items and miscellaneous debris.

“This problem impacts Network Rail by suspending trains while the area is cleaned up.

“There are health and safety issues to Network Rail employees, an environmental health aspect to local residents because abandoned food containers may attract rodents and there is also an amenity issue for local residents.” Ms Goldie visited the site with Network Rail’s Lindsay Saddler and Niamh Hegarty.

The MSP said: “If we can start to find a solution to the problem everyone is a winner.

“I am contacting the council and River Clyde Homes proposing that we have a meeting with Network Rail to look at the issue.

“I’m a great believer in getting round the table to see what can be done with a joint approach.” Rail chiefs say flytipping is a major problem.

A Network Rail spokesman said: “Each year, Network Rail removes more than 1,000 tonnes of litter from the operational railway in Scotland and this is a task which could be largely avoided if people took their rubbish to a bin.

“Litter collection instead uses up maintenance staff time that could be better spent on duties that would further improve the performance of our network and the service we provide the public.” l Anyone who witnesses flytipping can report the matter 24 hours a day by calling 03457 114141.