Putrid rotting waste, rubble, shopping trolleys and fridges are festering in the Queen Elizabeth Stadium and are now spilling out onto the crumbling track.

According to sources, Enfield Council's parks department has apparently used the stadium as an unofficial recycling depot for years, with a storage area for green waste and fly-tips behind the Enfield Ignatians Rugby Club clubhouse.

However, since the closure of the track two months ago after it was found to be unsafe for use, the rubbish has begun to multiply.

The council is now investigating how a large pile of rubble was dumped on the starting line of the track, allegedly by builders, after the main gates were left unlocked.

The rubble lies alongside dilapidated hurdles and other equipment which lies scattered across the track.

Yet just across the road is the former site of the Carterhatch depot, a recycling and waste facility, which was sold off for housing in 2005.

The discovery is a double own-goal for the council, which closed the Carterhatch Lane depot saying it was "underused", and has had to convince residents of its seriousness to rejuvenate the QE Stadium after admitting successive administrations, including its own, had neglected the site.

Blistering attacks have been launched on the council by green groups, sports clubs and the local MP.

Chair of Enfield Athletics Partnership Ray Gibbons said: "The council has always used the QE Stadium as a dumping ground.

"There are now hundreds of bits of metal there and some schools have said they can't possibly use this track because of them.

"It gets worse every time I go there - the place is a tip."

Enfield North MP Joan Ryan said the council had "shown an unbelievable level of insensitivity, stupidity and incompetence" and were "misusing the borough's assets twice over".

She wrote to council leader Michael Rye on Monday and said she would raise the issue in Parliament.

Darren Johnson, London Assembly Member for the Green Party, said: "This is not a surprise at all. I think it shows the complete short sightedness of Enfield's approach on this.

"They have closed down important waste facilities and it is a sorry carry on."

A council spokeswoman said all rubbish would be removed within seven days, and that from now on, waste material would only be left on the site in "special circumstances".

She said: "This area has been used as a collection point to save on the number of journeys being made to Barrowell Green and therefore saves on fuel, staff hours and unnecessary traffic congestion.

"This is a regular practice of sorting waste from parks and nearby sites and has nothing to do with the closure of the QE Stadium.

"The council is consulting with local sports groups to determine the future use of the stadium - and a decision is expected in the autumn."