Wolverhampton streets are 'plagued' by regular fly-tipping

Bags of rubbish have been dumped in the streets and at bus stops in Blakenhall on an almost daily basis over the last week, and residents are demanding council bosses take urgent action to stamp the problem out.

Manisha Patel, who lives in the area, said that as well as being unsightly the rubbish was a major health hazard that was attracting vermin.

“This matter is now out of control. Today is the fourth day that  rubbish has been left at the bus stop outside the supermarkets on Dudley Road,” she said.

“It now has maggots crawling all over it. This is a public bus stop and you can smell the vile smell coming from these bags. I’m appealing to our local councillors to get something done about this. It’s awful.”

Councillor Paul Birch said the cost to the environment and to city living undermined any investments made by entrepreneurs and homeowners.

“This rubbish being dumped everywhere is way out of control. There has to be another way to solve the problem,” he said.

“Council officers are back in two weeks and we need to have a proper sit down, get our heads together and sort this out once and for all.

“I think the time has come for harsher penalties – to seize and crush vehicles involved in incidents of fly-tipping and evict the residents responsible.

“We need to get tough on the perpetrators of these environmental crimes. The council has made an investment into extending opening hours at the city’s tips, and yet people are still dumping on the streets,” he added.

“In Canada, binmen are given the contract to take fly-tipped items away as well as empty bins. I think we need to offer that in contracts here. That way our own teams earn more, and we save on employing third party contractors sent to do clean-ups every day.”

Business owner Arun Shibber, who runs Microtek on Dudley Road, said the problem was so bad that he’d agreed to pay contractors to remove rubbish thrown outside his shop.