FLY-TIPPING and rubbish strewn on a Bradford street has prompted a local resident to call the area an "environmentally disgusting place to live".

Thornbury resident Marj Cowling has spoken out about the state of Woodhall Avenue, an unadopted road off Leeds Old Road and Gain Lane.

Over the last couple of years, she said the area has been plagued by fly-tipping, bin problems and food being left out for animals, leading to vermin problems.

"It's an environmentally disgusting place to live," said Woodhall Avenue resident Marj Cowling.

"I'd like a nice clean neighbourhood. I've lived here 21 years and I've never known it as bad as it is now.

"People come and dump here. They've been doing that for quite some time.

"They come during the night, and you wake up in the morning and find rubbish everywhere."

Mrs Cowling said people should not throw food out for animals, which she said can attract rats.

She also said sometimes once bins are emptied in the area, they get left and eventually are overflowing with rubbish.

"It's getting to be like a ghetto around here," she said. "The council needs to do something."

She said the problems have been reported to Bradford Council, and she said that last week an enforcement officer came around and put a letter through doors in the neighbourhood.

The letter told people they had a number of complaints and asked residents to dispose of waste appropriately.

"People need to have pride in their neighbourhoods," said Mrs Cowling.

Cllr Mohammed Shafiq (Lab, Bradford Moor) said: "The reality is fly-tipping is a huge issue across the district, Bradford Moor is not an exception.

"It's unacceptable to be fly-tipping illegally. We'd like to encourage people to take their rubbish to household waste facilities, like the one on Bowling Back Lane.

"There's no reason for doing what they're doing.

"If you have evidence of people fly-tipping, the council will take it further."

A Bradford Council spokesperson said: “Fly tipping is simply unacceptable and we do everything we can to crack down on it.

“Our environmental enforcement team has received some information about this incident and is looking into it.

“Bradford Council actively investigates fly tipping and we regularly take enforcement action against offenders.

“Last year we investigated over 2,000 incidents, issued over 50 fly-tipping fixed penalty notices and seized five vehicles involved in environmental crime.

“We ask that people please put all waste in the correct bins and not overfill them. Once the collection has been made, people should bring them back in and store them on their properties.

“Please report fly tipping at bradford.gov.uk/flytipping or call 01274 432111.”