A sea of rubbish is dominating a fly-tipping hotspot in south east London with locals fuming that nothing is being done to combat it.
Piles of unwanted furniture, old fridges and discarded tyres line the side of a dead-end road in Erith. The road has become a dumping ground for 20 years, residents say.
With the problem now attracting rodents and foxes, a local lorry driver said the problem has dramatically worsened in recent years. Kevin Richards, 56, said: “During the night there’s fly-tipping in the middle of the road.
“I damaged the front bumper of my minibus one night, which is costing me £500 to repair. In the summer of 2022, there was a huge fire down the road and it was closed off for three days.
“The fire got rid of most of the rubbish but now it’s worse than it was before. Because it’s down a dead-end road and not many people go down the estate, it’s out of sight, out of mind.”
Mr Richards claimed neither Bexley Council, the Environment Agency nor his local Tory MP, Sir David Evennett, have attempted to deal with the issue.
He accused officials of “passing the buck,” adding: “People know that they can go down there and tip as they’re not going to get fined or anything.
“No one’s going to say anything to them so basically, it’s a free landfill. I’ve actually seen people dumping rubbish in full daylight – they just know there’s no repercussions.”
Council figures show that last year 83 Fixed Penalty Notices were issued for fly-tipping along Wallhouse Road. A further 21 were issued to non-compliant waste carriers and nine to residents lacking due diligence when arranging for a contractor to collect their waste.
He said residents who had been in the area for years said it used to be “beautiful”.
“I’ve spoken to people who are in their 50s and 60s and they tell me when they were a child, they used to go down that road to play,” Mr Richards said.
A spokesperson for Bexley Council said: “We remove any waste which has been deposited onto the highway as quickly as possible. The ditches which run alongside the highway are privately owned and we are working on solutions with the landowner.
“We take fly-tipping very seriously and are continuing to engage with the landowners, the environment agency and local businesses to combat this.
“We are working on plans to increase CCTV coverage, introduce new deterrents and clear the accumulation of waste, which we hope to announce over the coming months.”
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “The Environment Agency and London Borough of Bexley work with the Met Police, local businesses and landowners on the Darent Industrial Park Estate and Ray Lamb Way to address the concerns around fly-tipping and the impact on the environment and local businesses.
“We carry out targeted days of action with partners to disrupt those who are intent on breaking the law when carrying waste.”
