People living in Bootle are fed up of their streets looking like "a scene from the zombie apocalypse".
The ECHO has been inundated with complaints from people living in and around the town, who are sick of constant flytipping, as well as rubbish being strewn about the area.
One woman, who lives on Peel Road, said she is "petrified" to go in her back garden because of the rats; while a man living on Thornton Road said his street looks like a "bomb has gone off".
Dozens of others say they have reported similar problems to Sefton Council on numerous occasions.
So what can be done about the rubbish?
Bootle residents have voiced a number of suggestions.
Sandra Hodson said: "I pay for my rubbish to be removed yet there are dumped couches and mattresses and all kinds of stuff in the back entry.
"They should put cameras in and fine people."
Arthur Cooper said: "They should put free skips out once a month, it would be cheaper than the paying for clean-ups."
Gavin Scott said: "Unfortunately due to massive financial cutbacks and Covid-19, the council are stuck between a rock and a hard-place over all the fly-tipping/littering/weed issues. Parts of Bootle resemble a scene from the zombie apocalypse.
"From my own experience, living quite near to the Strand, a lot of the fly-tipping tends to be coming from people outside of the area dumping late at night.
"But unfortunately much of the littering is by locals with no care or respect for their community. They somehow think it's acceptable."
Lisa Portelli said: "We need more bins everywhere, then maybe people will use them instead of throwing their rubbish on the floor. And why do we not recycle [in Bootle]? Where I used to live I recycled almost everything, but here you can barely recycle a thing. I just don't get it."
One woman said: "Most of the back alleyways seem to be blocked. This needs to be taken more seriously because if there was a fire none of us have an alternative escape route.
"Will it take someone dying before [the council] takes this seriously?
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"It's a postcode lottery. You wouldn't see this in Southport or Formby!"
One man, who wishes to remain anonymous, said: "Many of the streets in Sefton can’t accommodate wheelie bins in every house but they definitely can accommodate Euro Bins with locks that residents have access to.
"There are ways in which this can be abused but there are also ways in which people can be penalised for doing so.
"The council owns the Strand and has a heavy influence in other shopping areas, they can use this advantage to encourage or incentivise shops to reduce waste. Providing schemes for people who return glass bottles (instead of selling plastic ones) and making the option available for customers to bring their own packaging."
Sefton Council said it has a zero tolerance approach to flytipping.
The authority also said that community bins and local skips are the responsibility of ward councillors, so anyone seeking to obtain one should contract their local councillor.
A council spokesman said: "We are delighted to see so many residents as passionate as we are about tackling fly-tipping and littering across Sefton.
"Like all towns and cities across the country, there exists a small minority of irresponsible people who simply cannot be bothered disposing of their sofas, mattresses, household goods etc. responsibly.
“In 2019 alone we were called to remove more than 2,000 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish which costs the authority around £1 million.
“We have a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping and in cases where evidence has been recovered, we will investigate who is responsible.
"Fly-tipping is a crime and we will issue fixed penalty notices and prosecute offenders wherever we can.
"Many residents also hire third parties to take away household waste and large bulky items from their properties - but most do not know the rules and regulations that cover these types of waste disposal.
"By law, individuals are required to make sure the individuals or firm removing their waste is authorised to do so and is registered with the Environment Agency as an official waste carrier.
"It is also vital to retain the name and address of the person or firm disposing of your waste.
"On average 20 tonnes of fly-tipped rubbish is left in rear alleyways and passageways each week, running up bills of £2,600 in disposal costs alone.
"We know that this rubbish is being dumped illegally by residents and businesses in the immediate vicinity but they do not realise how damaging this is to their own health."
There also appears to be less flytipping in North Sefton because there are no gated rear alleys in the north of the borough.
What the community is doing and how we can all help
There are a number of great local community groups and projects aimed at tackling South Sefton's rubbish problem.
Rufford Community Garden is just one of many groups working hard to clean up the local area.
The project is aimed at creating communal "gardens" in alleyways.
The L30 litter pick project is another scheme, run by Netherton Community and the Little World cafe in Bootle.
And there's Taking Root, which connects community growing, food and health projects across South Sefton.
The Bootle Action Group (BAG) is a community group dedicated to creating a cleaner, brighter Bootle.
BAG works with local councillors and other organisations to report and clear up "grot spots" in the L20 area.
People can also do their bit by reporting flytipping and rubbish to the council.
You can do so by calling 0345 140 0845 or on Sefton Council's website
