Fly-tipping leaves Southmead streets 'like a slum' say furious residents

A furious resident says she feels like she is "living in a slum" after stinking piles of waste were abandoned near a supermarket.

The rubbish was reportedly fly-tipped in Southmead, Bristol, close to the shops in Arnside Road.

When Bristol Live visited, there was a mess of wooden boards, cardboard boxes, scraps of a sofa, a child-sized toy truck and stacks of bin bags bulging with smelly refuse.

The mounds of waste were propped up next to a wall along the side of Iceland, although there is no suggestion that the supermarket has anything to do with the issue.

One resident, called Leanne, has complained to Bristol City Council about the problem, calling for its removal.

Addressing the authority on Twitter on Monday, she said: "Please please can you sort out the disgusting rubbish and fly tipping situation at the Arnside shops in Southmead, it’s like living in a slum and the stench is gut churning.

"There is a mountain of rubbish today and it’s being added to by the hour."

The stench has been described as gut-churning (Jon Kent)

The council has encouraged her to report the fly-tip via its website, so its officers can clear it away.

Fly-tipping is illegal and can carry a fine of up to £50,000, and a prison sentence of up to five years in the most serious cases.

Campaign group Keep Britain Tidy has warned that fly-tipping is "reaching epidemic proportions" in the UK, with an estimated one million fly-tips reported every year.

Fly tippers can face fines of up to £50,000 (Jon Kent)

Last week, Bristol Live launched the anti-littering campaign Don't Trash Our Future, in response to shocking photos showing trashed parks and public spaces.

As well as reporting fly-tipping via the council's website, Bristol residents can also use the problem-reporting website FixMyStreet to flag up problem areas.

Records on the site show that complaints have been made in the Arnside Road area previously.

An anonymous report from March of this year said there had been an "increasing number of used needles being dumped on the pavement near Iceland."

The resident called for an action plan to "keep the area safe" and requested multi-agency intervention involving police.