A SHOP-OWNER said she is ‘disgusted’ by flytipping which is attracting rats.

Ann Lomas, who runs a furniture and stationery store in King Street, has called for help in clearing up a ‘massive’ pile of rubbish.

The heap includes chairs, wine bottles, boxes and bags dumped at the back of her store.

The 71-year-old said she contacted Blackburn with Darwen Council regarding the mess but they told her they have been unable to do anything because of it being private land.

Mrs Lomas said she is now growing increasingly concerned about the rubbish and the effect it is having on her business.

The mother-of-two, from Feniscowles, said: “It’s a mess.

“You get people walking out around there and it is just terrible to see.

“We have seen rats running around.

“It’s just growing and growing almost every day, its building up and building up.

“It’s not good enough that this mess is being left there, it’s bad for the area and bad for business.”

Mrs Lomas has run Lomas Office Furniture and Stationery for almost 30 years with her husband Roy.

She said that the street has had problems with fly-tipping earlier this year before the council arrived to clean it up.

The current pile is located on the street next to an empty shop near Mrs Lomas’ store.

Mrs Lomas said: “There is a massive fly tipping problem in the area.

“There is vermin around. It is just not hygienic at all.

“It has been going on for weeks now.

“But it has got to the point where enough is enough. Especially in the winter months you could get homeless people hanging round. It is just awful.

“There is quite a lot of stuff there now; chairs, wine bottles, boxes and bags of rubbish.”

Cllr Quesir Mahmood, who represents the Wensley Fold ward for Blackburn with Darwen Council, has said that more needs to be done to catch the culprits.

He said: “It is disgusting that someone is doing that.

“We will be working with locals to try to catch those who are responsible.

“It’s not just a problem in our ward but something that is an issue throughout the borough.

“We will be investigating what has happened.

“We have been putting time and money into a variety of projects which look to prevent his sort of behaviour.”

A Blackburn with Darwen Council spokesman said: “This is private land and environmental services are writing to the land-owner asking them to remove any waste on their land.”