NEIGHBOURS in a street blighted by fly-tipping say they are "annoyed and fed up" that nothing has been done to combat the problem.
People in Atkins Road in Leyton, say the area is constantly lined with mattresses, furniture and bags of rubbish - but Waltham Forest Council have ignored their requests for CCTV.
Abeel Shehzad, who has lived in the street for four years, said he cannot let his children out to play on the street because it is always lined with broken glass.
He said: “I cannot walk down the footpaths with my two children and we cannot let them out to play because there is broken glass dumped and it is dangerous.
“I am really annoyed because I pay council tax and nothing is done.
“I have reported it to the council a few times and asked for something to be done and I never get a response.
“There are a few places where CCTV was installed and it has stopped the fly-tipping.
“When people see the cameras they will know they can be caught so I think it would be a really good idea because the people who dump the rubbish don’t seem to care.”
Resident Alistair Brooks said the problem has escalated in the past five years.
The 46-year-old said: “There is always a slow reaction from the council and it takes ages to get the rubbish cleared.
“For the last five years it has been really bad and I have filmed people dumping rubbish and sent it to the council but nothing is ever done.
“I have seen 30 or 40 feet of rubbish all down the street and everybody is just so fed up with it and it is a real shame.
“I think it is sad really because it’s not nice to see your road full of rubbish every day and when I visit my friends their streets are not like this.
“It has reached a point where it is so bad that it is not fair for anyone living here.”
Mr Brooks said he believes multiple occupancy of houses in the area which contain bedsits rather than families are to blame for the problem.
He said: “The problem is multiple occupation of properties and more people create more rubbish.
“There are lots of bedsits and people are living on top of each other.
“They either don’t want to pay for rubbish collection or they don’t know about it.
“If the council clear it all on a Sunday, there is more rubbish dumped again on the Monday.”
Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy leader and cabinet member for environment, said: “We carry out regular patrols in the area including Atkins Road but there has not been any evidence to identify the offenders.
“We will carry out additional patrols in the area to not only clear any fly-tips but also to attempt to track down who is dumping the waste.
“We are currently spending around £1.5million a year clearing it up.
“We ask residents to report any fly-tips they see to us directly so we can get them cleared and take action to track down the culprits.
“The use of mobile CCTV is a useful tool in tackling the problem and we are considering options to enhance what we currently have available to us.”
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