Fly-tipping of fridge, pram and household waste on open land in Immingham is 'a danger to residents'

RATS were allegedly breeding in piles of "disgusting" rubbish dumped on open space in Immingham.

A fridge-freezer, children's pram, household waste and settee cushions are among the items that have been abandoned at Spring Street fields.

Donna Fitch-Grice, 47, who walks her dog on the land every day, claims it has become dangerous.

She said: "It's absolutely disgusting that people dump their rubbish here rather than disposing of it properly.

"There are lots of children and families who walk across the fields and it's dangerous for them to be treading through piles of rubbish.

"If children play on the field at the moment they could really hurt themselves.

"A wild rat had a stand-off with my dog the other day and they can be really vicious. They're not like domestic rats; there have even been cases elsewhere of children being attacked by them.

"If the rubbish is left then the rat problem is only going to get worse because it gives them somewhere sheltered where they can breed."

Donna, who lives in Battery Street, Immingham, added that the land has become a blight on the town.

She said: "We hear so much about Immingham In Bloom and how it is making the town better, but then all this rubbish is left here for weeks.

"There's no point making Pelham Road look nice if the fields look like this.

"A lot of us try out hardest to make our gardens tidy but Immingham In Bloom needs to concentrate on cleaning up the whole area."

Councillor Dave Watson, cabinet member for environment, said: "We were alerted by members of the public to a fly-tipping incident at Spring Street fields in Immingham.

"The land, unfortunately, does not currently have a title holder registered at the land registry and as such under the EPA legislation we have a statutory obligation to remove waste items on any land that is open to access.

"In this case the bulkier items were removed by our street cleansing team followed up by the community payback service ensuring items of rubble and soil were also cleared.

"As with all incidents of fly-tipping in Immingham, we will work in conjunction with the town council to pursue the perpetrators and bring charges against them."

VIEW PICTURE GALLERIES www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/pictures