Rubbish heap towers over houses in West Midlands

Annoyed at people dumping their old mattresses on your street? Imagine if you had a dump next to your house so huge it could be seen from over a mile...

Pity the residents of Brierley Hill in the West Midlands, who have lived with an enormous 30 foot rubbish heap dwarfing their houses for more than a year.

They say rats have been spotted scurrying around among the debris and clouds of black dust settle on their houses.

Sally Round, a resident, told the BBC: "In the summer it gets really dusty, really filthy, windows get black and we wake up looking at a tip."

The company who is responsible for the dump, Refuse Derived Fuels Ltd, could be forced to discontinue its operations if it does not meet a deadline of 28 February to reduce the stack of refuse.

So far the company, which is meant to shred and dry waste so it can be turned into fuel, has failed to meet five out of seven deadlines set by the Environment Agency to reduce the size of the tip.

David Hudson, environment manager with the agency, said: "Compliance has been very poor to date, very disappointing."

"We were hoping to see this level of the waste on the site slowly come down in a reasonable way for the company and the residents would see progress, but I'm afraid it's just not happened."

Should the council take better action to resolve this problem or is this what to expect when you live next to a dump?

Source: AOL

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