Residents living near dumped chemical waste claim it's causing rat infestation

19 April 2024 , 09:12

1282     0

The chemical rubbish has been there for two years (Image: Newsquest/SWNS)

Residents living near a large pile of dumped chemical waste and rubbish for two years say no-one will remove it.

Locals say they are 'ashamed' to live near the flytipped heap which has never been cleared. Resident Jane Coulthard says the mess is leaking toxic waste into her driveway, bringing flies and rats into her house, and affecting her health. The overgrown pile in the driveway next to her home in Swindon in Wiltshire includes a mouldy mattress, bottles of degreaser and descaler and rubble.

Jane said: "It is horrible and it smells. It absolutely stinks out there because they have got half-open bottles just checked with the tops off. It's just disgusting, I've got flies coming in and the smell is horrendous when it is raining."

Pictures show 'bubbly and foamy' waste which Jane says comes from the bottles leaking into her garden when it rains. Jane says it has rotted her fence and is causing it to fall down. She suffers from a long-term health condition and believes living next to the mess to have made it worse.

She said: "I feel ashamed of where I am living at the moment. I shouldn't have to." Where the responsibility for the rubbish lies is a difficult question for Jane to answer, she says. A man who who lives in the same area admits the chemicals are his and left over from a now liquidated business venture.

Best way to deter rats from garden is 'non toxic' and 'stops them from entering'

But he says the mouldy mattress was fly-tipped there, the fence panels are the landlord's and the driveway belongs to a tenant who has now passed away. He claims to have been told the chemicals do not pose any environmental harm - though full bottles of degreaser and descaler had evidently been left in the open for a long time.

He said he does have plans to get the chemicals removed 'when they find somewhere to put them'. The landlord told the Swindon Advertiser: "I have told the tenants previously to clear any mess but the last time I had notification of a problem was September 8, 2023 and this is the first time since then I've been notified of a problem. The tenants responsible have been given notice to clear the rubbish."

Mirius descaler, the brand found, says 'avoid releasing into the environment', but that it is 'not regarded as dangerous for the environment'. The same information applies to the degreaser.

Rom Preston-Ellis