SOFAS, fridge freezers and rotting rubbish litter a Barnsley side street just steps away from the town centre.
Bridge Street - which is off Old Mill Lane and runs towards the junction with Eldon Street North - is a magnet for fly-tipping according to residents.
Gary Swift, who lives on Old Mill Lane, said waste being dumped on the street has become a common problem because people cannot be bothered to dispose of it properly.
“They dump it on the causeway and wait for someone like me to report it,” he said.
“They either do not know how to do it, or can’t be bothered.
“People then see it and start throwing their rubbish on top and then we start getting rats and then black bags of rubbish get thrown on if they can’t get it in their bins. Then we get dogs and cats ripping the bags apart and that brings the rats and mice.
“I see the rats regularly.”
The Chronicle went to look at the street on Wednesday. At one end a three-seater leather sofa had been dumped on the pavement and walking towards Eldon Street there were overflowing waste bins. In front of one house, close to the junction with Eldon Street, a tall fridge freezer had been left at the side of the road.
Locals said a ginnel leading away from Bridge Street towards Eldon Street is another hotspot for illegal dumping.
One resident said it gets so bad with tipped waste there that it blocks access to the ginnel. Several days ago he said there was rubbish piled three feet high until the council came to clear it away.
A short stroll down the ginnel reveals more fly-tipping. Bags of smelly rubbish, beer bottles, bits of wood and plastic are piled up against a leather chair turned on its side and a matching sofa.
Ryan Schofield, 45, has lived in the area since 1999. He said the problem has worsened over the years.
“People come from other streets to dump their rubbish,” he said. “On the front there is tipping and I’ve seen residents chuck rubbish over their own back wall.
“It’s starting to look a mess now.
“We have had sofas before and what I don’t get is you only have to ring someone like the British Heart Foundation and it will be picked up free of charge. There are a lot of people who do not clean up after their dogs either. I’ve seen them shovel it up and fling it over the backs.”
Mr Swift said a lot of the rubbish comes from people living on the street and believes part of the problem is that a large portion of the homes are privately rented with a high turnover of tenants.
“No-one seems to stop,” he said. “A lot are in and out in six to nine months. There is a very high turnover.
“The rubbish is coming from people in the houses. Either they don’t know the routines (for disposing of waste) or the landlord hasn’t bothered to tell them.
“The worst bit is between Eldon Street and Old Mill Lane.
“Some of it has been there months, some weeks and nothing has been done about it.”
Barnsley Council was unable to provide a comment.
