Anger as rubbish attracting rats in Hastings

Leonard Chappell pointing out some of the rubbish that has been dumped in Clarence Road

Leonard Chappell said he first contacted Hastings Borough Council in March asking for the rubbish left on Clarence Road near his home to be cleared up.

But after numerous phone calls and trips to the town hall to chase it up, nothing has been done and rats have been seen scurrying around the waste.

The 71-year-old said he is disgusted with the council and said it is ‘ridiculous’ as another dumping hot-spot nearby is regularly cleared up but not his road.

Bin bags full of rubbish left on Clarence Road

“They charge us a council tax and this should come in to the council tax, clearing the streets,” he said.

“They’ve had two months that’s fair enough, they’ve had time to do something about it.

“What makes me laugh is, on Upper Park Road, where the alley is behind the mini gymnasium, people dumps beds there and they take all that. It’s ridiculous.”

All sort of rubbish has being dumped on Clarence Road – metal cans, plasterboard, household waste, a bucket of cement and even an industrial cooler.

Mr Chappell said he has watched rats running around attracted to the rubbish

Apparently the council posters warning people about dumping include phone numbers that are obsolete.

Mr Chappell said he has called the council three times about the mess and visited its offices twice to try to get it dealt with.

Every time he was told it would be cleaned up but nothing had been done before he spoke to the Observer.

The rats attracted to the waste have been spotted in Mr Chappell’s back garden and driveway, as well as along his neighbour’s fence.

Council spokesman Kevin Boorman said the authority is aware of the problem and one of its waste managers has spoken to Mr Chappell.

The dumping is taking place on private land and not on the highway, but the council will deal with it, he said. Kevin added that some cars need to be moved as they are blocking access to the rubbish but the authority is sorting that out.

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