Residents in a Tower Hamlets estate near Shadwell station say flytipping has become so severe that rats are chewing through their cars. Dumped mattresses, beds, and builders' rubbish are a daily sight, despite weekly council cleanups.
Rats cause costly damage
Alom, a resident of Solander Gardens, told MyLondon: "The rats are everywhere. If the rubbish is dumped on Friday, then the rats will be chewing through everything all over the weekend. They chewed through my car, and it's cost me £240 to fix." He added: "I now have to pay because the council won't come and just sort this out, it happens every day, and we have to live here. It affects me a lot, it is dirty, it's horrible."
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, said: "In the morning, it's cleared then, in the night, there are piles of it again. There are rats everywhere. The council don't do anything to stop them. I don't leave my car here because of the rats. I have a baby, and I don't want my son to get ill if the rats have been all over my car." They questioned who was dumping the rubbish, noting it was not from their block.
Council data shows 6,700 reports
Tower Hamlets Council recorded more than 6,700 reports of flytipping in 2023/2024 and increased fines from £400 to £1,000 (£500 if paid early). Residents say this has not deterred offenders. Martin Iddiols, 61, who has lived on the estate for 11 years, said: "It just builds and builds. It's all just general crap. Somebody dumped a load of stuff here; it was just added to and built up over the weeks." He added: "I see things on the street that have reference numbers on them to be collected, but then nothing is done for weeks. It's been an issue for years."
Borough-wide issue
Craig Simons, 44, from another part of Tower Hamlets, said the problem is borough-wide. He noted: "My partner used to report them all the time, and it is a lot better than it was when we had those bin strikes a couple of years back. It's getting regular that you see tonnes of rubbish dumped, surely something can be done to sort this out? It's embarrassing when I have people come to visit me and there is just piles and piles of rubbish on my doorstep."
Tower Hamlets has been recorded as London's worst-performing borough for recycling, with a rate of 16%, the lowest among 32 boroughs, according to the Countryside Charity London.
Council response
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: "The Council takes a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping. We receive thousands of reports across the borough every year and spend millions of pounds on clearance and disposal, as well as investigating instances of fly-tipping. We aim to remove reported fly-tips from the public highway by the end of the next working day wherever possible, while larger or hazardous incidents require investigation before they can be safely cleared." The spokesperson added that enforcement action includes increased fines and potential prosecution.
