Coventry residents find a toilet and mattress littering their streets
They've taken to Facebook to share the "disgraceful" conditions
Last updated 27th Jul 2022
A toilet and a mattress were among rubbish dumped in a Coventry alley this month to the despair of residents who are fed up with cleaning it away.
Kellie Lock told us that it’s been an issue ever since she moved to the city.
She spoke after commenting on a Facebook post about rubbish in Earlsdon which saw commenters slam the “appalling” state of Coventry streets.
Ms Lock wrote that a particular alleyway between Kensington and Westwood road is a “disgrace” and a “joke” which had been piled up with rubbish after she cleaned it over lockdown.
This included a toilet, mattress, beer cans, glass bottles and bags of fly-tipping.
“It’s just not really pleasant,” she said. “There are bin bags left on the corner, not just rubbish, which attract flies and rats.”
She blamed the mountain of mess on landlords and believes it’s their responsibility to clear it up.
“Many people are doing their houses up for students and dumping rubbish,” she said.
“Landlords have to deal with it, not the council. I don’t know who is to going to tidy it up.”
Small debris is manageable – “me and my partner tried to clear up as much as we could,” – but waiting for a skip to come for the big stuff takes time.
“We use the alleys to get to the corner shop,” said Ms Lock. “Now you can’t move easily through the alley because of the rubbish.”
“That’s why we clean it up – so people could use it.”
A spokesperson for Coventry City Council explained why the response to rubbish is sometimes slow.
“The enforcement team will always take steps to get the waste removed but it is essential that officers gather what evidence so they can to hopefully catch the perpetrators before the waste is cleared,” they told us. “We often identify the culprits with the help of the community.
“We are aware of issues at these sites as well as others and are investigating all incidents and looking to take action against those who are responsible,” they added.
“Coventry City Council officers patrol Coventry’s streets across the city every day to reduce the problem of fly-tipping and Neighbourhood Enforcement Officers visit locations based upon information and intelligence received from local people and lots of organisations.