A pile of rubbish dumped by commuters and passersby has been steadily growing outside Walthamstow Central tube station.

People have contacted both Waltham Forest Council and Transport for London to get the mess outside the Selborne Road entrance to the station cleaned up, but it continues to grow.

James Philips, of Walthamstow, took photos of the pile of crisp packets, empty water bottles and beer cans to put pressure on authorities.

He said: “The situation is disgraceful. It has been building up for weeks on end.

“I have, on several occasions, asked Waltham Forest Council and portfolio holder Cllr Clyde Loakes, to use its extensive powers to force TfL to clean up the area and keep it clean. They have yet to do so.

“This is the ‘Welcome to Walthamstow, Borough of Culture’ that greets commuters and visitors.”

Cllr Clyde Loakes, deputy council leader and cabinet member for the environment, said: “Walthamstow Central Station is owned by Network Rail. Like our residents we have been dismayed to see that this area that they are responsible for continues to be such an eyesore.

“However, as a council we do not have appropriate ‘extensive powers’ that can be deployed readily to force bodies such as Network Rail and TfL to act to meet our and our residents’ expectations; a point we often make to Government.

“We have been in contact with colleagues at Network Rail to remind them of their responsibility to keep it clean, and they have confirmed that it will be done over the next couple of days.”

A spokesman for TfL said: “ We apologise to residents and commuters for the build-up of litter in this area. It will shortly be removed by one of our cleaning teams.”