Rubbish dumped by the River Ayr in January has lay for almost seven weeks despite a council vow to deal with it.
Promises were made that waste flung on to the embankment next to Turner’s Bridge would be dealt with but nothing has changed nearly two months on.
The Ayrshire Post was first made aware of the build up of rubbish at the river at the start of the new year.
Back then, South Ayrshire Council vowed to tackle the issue, with Councillor Siobhian Brown calling for CCTV by the riverside to catch the shameless fly-tippers.
Council bosses have told how the job to fetch the waste would be too much of a risk for workers due to high water levels and icy conditions.
But one resident believes council teams have had plenty of time to work out a way to deal with the rubbish.
William Sutherland, 68, told the Ayrshire Post: “I can understand there is safety issues, but there have been days where there have been low tides.
“If they did their job at the beginning they could have brought a crane down and grabbed it from above.
“A little bit more effort and they could have cleared it.
William, who stays in Holmston, uses his daily exercise to enjoy a walk past the river.
And he was appalled to see the rubbish still there after the issue was highlighted.
Taking action, the former Merchant Navy worker raised his concerns with the council’s waste management department on three occasions throughout January.
His calls were eventually answered on Thursday, January 28, due to the appearance of rats and vermin eating away at the black bags which were then removed by contractors.
However, last week, pictures have shown the same levels of rubbish are still present.
William added: “It’s obvious that absolutely nothing has changed.”
Councillor Brown – who set up a Clean Up Ayr group – has hit out at fly-tippers for costing the council money.
The SNP politician, who is hoping to become MSP in the town, said: “I am told the contractors managed to remove the black bags with hooks recently.
"Unfortunately, there is still rubbish debris sitting on the bank and frozen ice which is impossible for staff or contractors at this stage to remove due to health and safety concerns for staff.
“This thoughtless act of disposing rubbish bags into the river has not only cost the council money to hire contractors to remove the rubbish but retrieving it has proved to be dangerous and difficult for workers.
"Once it is safe to do so, it will be removed and officers' investigation into this continues.
A council spokesperson said: "We have arranged for this rubbish to be removed, unfortunately this has not been possible as yet due to high water levels and the icy conditions.
"We should all dispose of our rubbish correctly, household waste which is dumped illegally is not only an eyesore but harms the environment.”
