Angry householders are demanding a big clean-up after their streets have become a magnet for fly-tippers.

Residents in the Otley Road area of Undercliffe, Bradford, say mounds of stinking waste are a rat-infested health hazard.

Ward councillor Rupert Oliver is backing their campaign to shift rubbish piled in alleys and on Northampton Street.

He said: "There are numerous examples of fly-tipping. In particular there are a number of snickets which appear to be secret' dumping sites. One is piled high with rotting debris."

Coun Oliver (Lab, Bowling and Barkerend) is calling on Bradford Council to clear the "hazardous and illegal" rubbish as a matter of urgency.

Mum Linda Bottomley, of Airedale Crescent, walks her six-year-old son Jonathan to Westminster Primary School along a rubbish-infested snicket. "There are loads of black bin bags, old furniture, fridges - it really smells," she said.

"The rubbish is piled up behind a fence in the snicket close to where we walk. It's been there for about 18 months and it's getting worse and worse. There'll be rats and all sorts of stuff there."

Bernard Barron, chairman of Otley Road Residents' and Tenants' Association, said fly-tippers moved in after garages were demolished on Northampton Street.

Mr Barron, a former landscape manager with Bradford Council, said: "We want the Council to do something urgently. The site should be cleaned up, grassed over and maintained."

Mr Barron said the fire service was called out recently after children set rubbish alight opposite homes.

"It's just a dumping ground for anybody. It is unsightly," he said.

He has met Coun Oliver and a Council representative at the site.

Gerry Andrews, Bradford Council's environmental task force co-ordinator, said: "Bradford's new two-year environmental task force is working with local communities to develop plans to clean up local neighbourhoods across the district.

"This not only involves removing rubbish and fly-tipping from Council-owned land, but also developing long-term plans to bring vacant plots of land back into use for local communities.

"In response to concerns raised by local residents in the Undercliffe area, I and other members of the task force have met Coun Rupert Oliver and residents to discuss plans to deal with fly-tipping on several plots of land in the Otley Road area of Undercliffe, including land at Northampton Street.

"We will be looking to clean up these sites as part of an ongoing programme of improvements in the area and are keen to hear from other people who may have ideas for problem sites or are keen to work with us to improve their local environment."

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COUNCIL POLICY

Bradford Council has a policy of cleaning up any instances of fly-tipping on public land within 24 hours of it being reported to them.

For rubbish that has been dumped on private land, the Council's visible services team will identify ownership of the land, and either issue warning letters or serve formal enforcement notices to clear it of dumped rubbish.

If the owners do not comply with an enforcement notice, they will either prosecute the owner or carry out the clearance work themselves before sending the owner of the land the bill.