A Woolston couple have been left angry and frustrated, claiming Warrington Borough Council has been ignoring a rat-infested fly-tipping nightmare outside their home since March last year!
Builder’s rubble and rubbish have been accumulating on an unadopted road at Gig Lane, Woolston, for the past 16 months.
During this time, they say only one environmental health officer has visited to assess the rubbish mountain.
It has caused a nightmare for Brian Birtwistle and Kathy Wagner-Birtwistle, who have been unable to access a vehicle parked in their garage.
A frustrated Brian said: “The council states that they cannot remove it because it is dumped on an unadopted road.
“We are not asking them to remove it, we are asking for their help or assistance as per their website, where they state:
Taking action against fly-tippers
“We can take formal legal action such as prosecutions and fixed penalty notices, where there is evidence to show who was responsible. This evidence could be from a witness, CCTV footage, mobile phone recordings or finding evidence in the waste. Where we cannot take formal action, we consider, verbal and written warnings.”
Brian added: “This is the only access into our garage, so we have not had access to the vehicle in the garage since March 2025.”
He says the rubbish has been dumped by a nuisance neighbour. “We have provided photographic evidence to the council with their details.
“The police and the council have been reluctant to help us. The rubbish is rat-infested, which is causing an environmental health issue.
“The fly-tipping initially started with garden waste. Household waste was then added, including a three-piece suite and bedroom furniture.
“There is a pile of building materials that is potentially asbestos-contaminated. There are ceiling lats, bricks and broken plasterboard.
“The most recent is 30 sheets of plasterboard and dry-wall adhesive.
“Warrington Council is not even responding to our email request for updates! I have reported the tipping to WBC and on each occasion, the reported reference number shows as closed on their system the following day.
“You can only imagine how angry and frustrated we are becoming!”
After being contacted by Warrington Worldwide to investigate the problem, a Warrington Borough Council spokesperson said “We acknowledge that this fly-tipping issue has been ongoing for a significant period of time and understand the frustration it has caused.
“It remains an active case, we continue to monitor the situation closely and to take further action if necessary.”
2 Comments
Absolutely disgusting conduct by WBC get the rubbish moved and invoice the householder responsible for causing the problem
Once again WBC not doing anything unless there is anything out of it for them
“We continue to monitor the situation closely and to take further action if necessary”
That’s an extremely poor response from the council. Clearly it hasn’t been monitored “closely” if the issue has been ongoing and accumulating for 15 months. How bad does the situation need to get for them to take further action?
A nuisance neighbour disrupting the peace and causing disruption unprovoked is outrageous, they should be faced with charges and penalties… Yet the victims are left helpless and vulnerable.
WBC should be ashamed