Britain's 'Satellite Street': Scottish road overrun with more than 80 dishes - and most are unused

These pictures show the journey one ordinary Scottish road has taken to become Satellite Street.

Esslemont Avenue, in Aberdeen, had a clear half mile of granite tenements without a single dish in the 1970s and 1980s.

But fast forward to 2014 and the street has more than 80 dishes on a 350-yard stretch, most of which, residents claim, are no longer used.

Angry locals say that most of the dishes were ‘inherited’ by previous owners as they don't pay to remove them when they move out.

George Howie, 67, a retired IT manager, who has lived on Esslemont Avenue for 39 years said: ‘I think just about every flat on the street must have one.

‘I moved into this flat in 1975. It is totally night and day to when I moved in. The dishes have changed the street massively.

‘I got the dish about eight or nine years ago. I still use it for FreeSat but I know most people on the street have just inherited these dishes and won't use them for anything anymore.

‘The street, to the best of my knowledge wasn't wired for cable so everyone just got satellite dishes. Now they're just left to rust because the people have moved out.

‘They're pretty awful looking.  But in these days of health and safety there would probably need to be a big team come and put up scaffolding and it would cost a fortune.’

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Satellite dishes are less popular now with the increasing popularity of services like Freeview, which only involves plugging in a box to the TV, and streaming websites like Netflix and LoveFilm.

Student Vlad Marchis, 21, said that although there is a dish outside his window he hasn’t needed it since moving in two years ago.

He said: ‘I don't really watch much TV anyway but when I do it is usually things like Netflix and I-player.’

Former bin man Dennis Smith, 68, who has lived on Esslemont Avenue for 26 years, said: ‘We got a TV dish about seven or eight years ago but we had to put it on the roof.

‘The street is a bit of a mess.  It would look much better if the neighbours didn't put their dishes facing onto the street.

‘A lot of people say that the dishes aren't nice, they make the town look quite disgusting honestly.

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‘There are an awful lot here - it can't be far off the record.’

Local councillor Bill Cormie slammed the dish invasion and called for people leaving their property to ‘show responsibility’ and take them down.

Councillor Cormie, who represents the Rosemount ward and lives close to Esslemont Avenue, said: ‘The dishes are absolutely horrid things - I can see 12 just looking out of my back window.

‘I've lived here for 18 years and I think they've been an absolute disaster for the area.

‘First-time buyers will move into the area, put up a dish and move on, just leaving it there.

‘They've got to take some responsibility and do away with these horrendous things before they move.

‘People in Aberdeen take pride in their buildings.  It's such a shame to see these things sticking out of the beautiful granite tenements.'

A spokeswoman for Sky said: ‘This issue is down to the individuals concerned.’