On Sat, 07 May 2011 15:58:28 +0000, Mark Baigent wrote:

At the back right of the garden thre are a few sheets of roof material,
3ft out of the ground and 5ft buried in the ground, I am tempted to
leave them there and put pland of fencing in front of them.

Looks like asbestos. If so then check for its breaking down. If it's
sound then leave it alone. If it's breaking down then you have a
potentially expensive toxic-waste removal job. Generally speaking
asbestos is harmless until you do something to create dust (e.g. sawing,
drilling, breaking).