Homeowners' joy as 40ft rubbish mountain near cul-de-sac is finally cleared after 'several years'

Residents in a cul-de-sac are celebrating after their “living nightmare” ended when a 20-tonne rubbish heap was finally removed.

The dump, on the former Waste4Fuel site in Orpington, Kent, had been left to fester for several years — and was described as like “living next to rotting corpses.”

The 40ft (12m) high and 60ft (18m) wide heap, was infested with rats, which would run into gardens.

Fire crews were also regularly sent out to tackle hotspots, which would erupt into flames.

But in August last year, Bromley Council brokered a deal between the Environment Agency and the site owners to secure the future ownership of the site as well as enable access to allow the clearance to be carried out by contractors Veolia.

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Jan Watkins, a grandmother-of-two who lives nearby, praised the work to clear the site.

The 62-year-old said fires had been kept under control — but said she feared the removal of the rubbish may lead to an infestation of rats.

Alan Cowburn, 75, has lived on the street since 1971, said in August 2015: “It’s like living next to a smouldering volcano and when it catches fire the burning plastic sends thick black smoke into our homes, which has caused me to vomit on two occasions.”

Another neighbour, Anisur Rahman, 38, said he and his family had been unable to open the windows of their home because of health concerns.

Mr Rahman and his wife Nasrin Sultana had said they feared for their daughter Rowzarida, four, and son Reean, nine.

Ms Sultana said at the time: “It’s really horrible, and we’re really scared when there are fires. You can’t even sit in the garden because of the smell and we keep the windows shut because of the dust.

“About every eight weeks the children feel sick for a couple of weeks. They weren’t like that before we moved here.”

Speaking about the removal process, Mrs Watkins added: “They seem to be getting on with it, it looks like they are making really good progress.

“They are doing a good job. Our biggest fear was that the smell would be really bad, but they have been hardly noticeable.

“I was expecting the worst, they seem to have control of the fires, that was an anxiety going through my mind.

“I haven’t been plagued by rats as I feared. Things have improved considerably.”

She said residents hoped that once the clearance work had been completed, the site could be turned into a visitor centre and car park providing access to the nearby Ruxley lakes.

Mrs Watkins said: “It’s a beautiful serene lake, it’s a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) site and it would be great to have access and local schools could visit as well.”