Waste festering near busy road

Household waste has been festering on land off a busy Wolverhampton main road for at least two years, a fed-up carpet shop owner said today.

Battered mattresses, ruined furniture, tyres and a skip full of an assortment of rubbish have all been fly-tipped at the brownfield site off Rookery Street, Wednesfield.

Keith White, owner of Royal Carpets, opposite the site, said much of the rubbish has been left there since October 2008.

"Wednesfield has had literally millions of pounds spent on it, trying to turn it into an area that attracts shoppers and businesses yet this site remains an absolute eyesore and probably a health hazard.

"It's been like it for the last two or three years and no matter how many times we ask the council to do something, it just stays looking like a tip.

"And if it looks like a tip, people use it as a tip – so the waste already there simply attracts more fly-tipping. It's a disgrace."

The land, owned by The Midcounties Co-operative, is earmarked for development with 22 apartments and a single retail unit. Outline planning permission was granted last year.

Council spokesman Tim Clark said: "The wider site, including the fly-tipped area, is earmarked for development with an outline planning application. In the meantime, the council will be contacting the landowner to request it is tidied up."

Andy Creswell, for The Midcounties Co-operative, said: "We will arrange for the land to be maintained."