A MAN has hit out at ‘disgusting’ fly-tippers saying they have severely affected his quality of life.

Fly-tippers have been dumping their waste, which he fears includes human faeces, in a back alley off Coleridge Street, Blackburn, for months now.

Richard Ray, who lives near the alley, is regularly faced with piles of rubbish around his property and his latest fears are that people been dumping human waste in the back passageway.

Speaking about living near the filthy site, Mr Ray said: “The dumped rubbish in the alley directly behind my house has attracted rats to the street and they’ve got into the walls of my house.

“At night I can hear them scuttling around in the attic.

“I’m extremely house proud, I love my house and garden and this is driving me mad.”

Mr Ray said the council has been good, and workers come regularly to clear up the alleyway, but as soon as it is cleaned-up a new wave of rubbish is dumped.

The distressed residents said things have become so bad that he’s stopped inviting family and friends over due to risks that come with the discarded rubbish.

He said: “I love spending time in my garden but this is affecting the way I live.

“I don’t want my nieces and nephews to come over for the fear that they’ll be playing in the garden and have to go into the alley to get a ball.

“I can’t believe people can be so inconsiderate. They don’t care about anyone else around them.

“The smell is unbearable. They’re even dumping human waste out there.

“They’re making my life a misery.”

Cllr Jim Smith, executive member for environment, said the council needs help from the residents in the area to try to catch the culprits. He said: “The real issue here is the offenders.

“Help is needed from local members of the community and the residents to try and catch these individuals.

“We quite often find with these cases that the offenders live very near the scene of the dumping.

“We’ve also had cases where we’ve caught and confiscated vans as some people will get in a van a do a mass-dumping and the drive away.”

Fly-tipping is an illegal offence and anyone with any information is asked to report offenders to their local council authority. Convicted fly-tippers can be fined up to £50,000 or face a six-month imprisonment.