South Shields man's frustration as rubbish repeatedly dumped in street

Residents living on Pollard Street say they are ‘frustrated’ by the amount of flytipping in the back lane behind their homes with bags full of food and clothing waste dumped on a regular basis.

The latest incident took place on Friday, March 12 when around five rubbish bags were left in the lane – with one resident even reporting they had seen rats among the waste.

One man who has lived on Pollard Street for 10 years says the problem is getting worse and has called on South Tyneside Council to clamp down on flytipping in the area

The resident, who did not want to be named, said: “Flytipping in the back lane has got worse recently even though I am reporting it on the council website.

"I would say flytipping happens at least once or twice a month and I report it because nothing is getting done [to stop it.]

"I went to collect the bins after they were emptied on Friday and noticed four to five black bags dumped In the lane.

“One of the bags had a box with a name and address on it so I rang the council to report it and they just said they will pass it onto the enforcement team.

"The bags had been ripped open to expose food and clothing. It is frustrating.”

The rubbish has now been removed.

South Tyneside Council urged residents to continue to report flytipping and said it ‘will always pursue offenders wherever it can.’

Councillor Ernest Gibson, Lead Member for Area Management and Community Safety, said: “Flytipping is unsightly, hazardous to the environment and wildlife, costly to clean up, not to mention it is a criminal offence.

"The public can often be our eyes and ears and we value the part they play in our efforts to combat flytipping and their support in helping to identify those responsible.

“It doesn’t matter if it is one black bin bag or large quantities of waste, we remain committed to tackling this form of environmental crime and anti-social behaviour and will always pursue offenders wherever we can.”

To report flytipping incidents call the council on: 0191 427 7000.

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