Portsmouth car park like 'a rubbish tip' after months of fly-tipping builds up next to North End residents' gardens

FLY-TIPPERS have left a car park in North End looking like a rubbish tip after months of illegal dumping – and the council is promising action after residents repeated pleas for help.

By Richard Lemmer

Published 24th Apr 2021, 19:29 BST

Updated 24th Apr 2021, 19:32 BST

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Huge amounts of rubbish – ranging from broken sofas to bags of rumble – have piled up in the private car parking space off London Road, near the junction to Kingston Crescent.

Several garages that are part of the site have also been stuffed with mattresses, shopping trolleys, and broken furniture.

In adjacent Havant Road, one resident says the site has attracted fly-tippers for years, but the problem has become ‘worse and worse’ in the last six months, with repeated calls for the council to take action.

Huge amounts of rubbish - ranging from wooden furniture to children's toys - have built up over months of illegal dumping in this North End car parking site.

Huge amounts of rubbish - ranging from wooden furniture to children's toys - have built up over months of illegal dumping in this North End car parking site.

The resident, who has lived on the road for more than three years and asked not to be named, said: ‘I noticed it when I first moved here and its got worse and worse.

‘It's disgusting around there – it's literally like a tip at the back of your garden.

‘A few people have mentioned it’s a fire hazard.

‘I’ve seen rats, mice, foxes - I have foxes in my garden all the time.

Portsmouth City Council has told one resident that it would take a dozen clearance companies to clear all the waste in one day under lockdown restrictions.

Portsmouth City Council has told one resident that it would take a dozen clearance companies to clear all the waste in one day under lockdown restrictions.

‘The flies in the summer are absolutely disgusting, you can see them in air all around the site.’

‘I haven’t seen anyone dumping stuff - it's quite dark down there.’

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The resident has emailed Portsmouth City Council half a dozen times over the last four months, asking for the local authority to flag the issue with the land’s owners.

Residents blame the rubbish for attracting rats, foxes, and huge swarms of flies.

Residents blame the rubbish for attracting rats, foxes, and huge swarms of flies.

The amount of waste means it would take 15 separate clearance companies to clear the site in one day under lockdown restrictions, according to a council officer’s email seen by The News.

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Councillor Lee Hunt, who represents the area in the Nelson ward, said council officers have contacted the owner of the site, whose responsibility it is safely dispose of the waste. There is no suggestion the owner has left the waste.

Cllr Hunt said: ‘There are some abandoned cars that need to be given 10 days notice to be moved.

Residents have said the fly-tipping makes it feel like they are living next to a dump.

Residents have said the fly-tipping makes it feel like they are living next to a dump.

‘The council officers have assured me that if he doesn't get on with it soon enough, they will serve an order on him and the council will clear it up and he will be charged for it.

‘He has told the council officers he will clear it up. Now that he has said he will, we need to give him time to do it.

‘The difficulty is that this is all private land. It's very difficult.

‘But I am getting to the end of my tether with it just like the residents.’

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Portsmouth London Road