Fury as 'fly-tippers' turn Walsall street into 'public tip' as residents don't dare to open windows

Homeowners have spoke of their anger after shameless fly-tippers turned their residential street into a 'public tip' leaving behind a 60ft mountain of rubbish. The community is up in arms over the colossal waste heap that has been allowed to fester and expand over several years.

Residents are now contending with rat infestations and find themselves unable to open their windows due to the burning of 'toxic' rubbish around the clock. Shock images reveal household waste strewn across pavements, with the entire street corner now engulfed by a sprawling mass of garbage extending 20 metres.

Despite repeated complaints to Walsall Council over three years, the unsightly pile only seems to grow, with new rubbish materialising as soon as any is cleared away. The source of the mess is a derelict property, once the site of A1 Furniture, a textile and furniture workshop, which has been neglected for years, leading residents to feel they are "living in the middle of a public dump."

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Local grandmother Lynne Perkins, 51, lamented: "You just can't comprehend how bad it is around here. My neighbour living directly next to it has children and it cannot be safe for them. It's a health hazard."

She also noted that since the closure of the furniture business, the building has seen various tenants. She added: "It just became a fly-tipping hotspot and now it's pretty much used as a public tip in the middle of the street.

"Rubbish was being burned on a daily basis too. Some of it was toxic and you couldn't open your windows. I am embarrassed to have my children and grandkids around because you can barely step foot out in the street."

"I speak to the council on a weekly basis about it. Court action is finally being taken, apparently, but it's taken nearly a year of constant complaints. It should not have taken this long. It's like living in a war-torn country. Its making me physically and mentally ill - I'm absolutely shot, its been hell.

"The new tenant seems to be trying to sort it out - but as soon as a bit of rubbish gets cleared, another tip van comes along and dumps more."

"You just cannot believe the mindset of some people. It's disgusting. You can't walk on the footpath for rubbish, litter and oil. We've got neighbours who work on cars in the middle of street, others who shoot air guns from their window, youths and druggies everywhere - it's just chaos living around here."

"I want to be proud of my country and my street where I've brought up three children and lived for 27 years - but I'm utterly ashamed."

Another local Russell Dale, 44, stated: "It feels like you're living in the middle of a public dump - it's absolutely rank and it stinks."

"The council have issued the owners with this enforcement notice but it just seems to be getting bigger instead," one frustrated resident revealed. "People don't give a damn and just carry on as they know nothing will happen to them."

"We've had squatters in there too. It's been on-and-off a dumping ground for about three years when they put clothes bins there but the last 12 months have been the worst."

"It's just lawless around here now. The police and council don't really want to know. You cannot believe this is 21st Century Britain."

Another local, who identified herself only as Linda, 61, expressed her concern: "It’s affecting the environment, it’s not good, it’s an eyesore for everyone to walk past."

She continued, "People are very annoyed about this and upset that they’ve let this area go downhill so much."

Linda also suggested, "The council should come and clear it all, for everybody. There’s no access to the pavement. It’s time it all stopped." Abdul Majeed, 53, shared his thoughts: "It affects the whole street, in the morning its full of kids and it's no good for them."

"There's rats running about and you can't walk on the pavement. It needs cleaning up."

Walsall Council issued one enforcement notice relating to the site addressed to AL11 Properties Ltd and two others addressed to individuals both registered as directors for the company. The order demands the removal of all accumulations of controlled waste, including white goods and waste that could harbour or attract vermin, waste which is potentially dangerous, and any waste having a "detrimental" effect on the visual appearance of the area.

The actions must be carried out before 11:59pm this Friday. If the notice is ignored and the mess remains, AL11 Properties Ltd could be prosecuted and convicted of a criminal offence.

Earlier this year, the company had been granted permission by Walsall Council’s planning officers to build a two-storey extension at the site. The extension was to form a wider project of redeveloping the derelict factory building which has fallen victim to vandalism over time.

A caravan is nestled in the waste at the rear of the factory, where the extension is due to be built. Its current owner, who would only give his name as Ali, 35, said: "We’re getting penalised for something we’ve not done."

"We’ve cleared the site earlier this year as there was dumping."

"We’re waiting for the council to allow us to do something with the property, it’s been three years. We were getting it cleared up about three months ago, but someone has turned it into a dump again.

"And it’s costing us £18,000 to get it cleared. We’re having to pay all of this out of our own pockets. This is the third time it’s been severely fly-tipped. We’ve secured it to make sure the council knows it’s secured, but someone has opened it all up and fly-tipped."

"It’s household rubbish, all sorts of rubbish. We’re the dumping ground for Walsall, it’s ridiculous. We asked the council if we can use the local tip and their trucks, if they can help us and we can pay for the labour and petrol, but the council rejected it."

"We’ve owned it for the past three years. It’s taken us three years to get planning permission. We have no room to remove anything. They want us to remove this which is really unfair.

"It’s local people doing it, I don’t live in the area. It takes us an hour and a half to get here, but it's happened three times this year. There’s no support from the council. It’s not my rubbish, it’s on the road. I shouldn’t be responsible for something that’s been fly-tipped on the road. It’s been bad for our company."

"The council won’t do anything about it but we’ve cleared the mess out each time."