The men took a picture of building rubble, soil and garden waste, bin bags, tins and plastic bottles that they came across while walking along the shore at the convent on Friday.

"It certainly seems to us that this has been going on for a while, on four or five occasions at least," one of the men said yesterday.

"We're concerned that this also seems to be the work of a contractor who, we understand, does work for the local council. We say this because we saw a vehicle dumping materials and we are passing the name of the company on to the county council's environmental services section," he added.

"Obviously, when someone is paid to dispose of waste, you expect that they will do so properly. All the more so if they are being given taxpayer's monies."

The 'Journal' was unable to obtain comment from either Buncrana Town Council or Donegal County Council because of the Bank Holiday.