A BACK alley in Darwen has been branded the ‘dirtiest in the borough’ by a councillor.

Sudell member Roy Davies claimed the alley between Preston Street and Lloyd Street, off Greenway Street, was being used as a dumping ground. He also called for people who knew the culprits to ‘name and shame’ them so they can be prosecuted.

Coun Davies said: “We have cleaned it up time and time again. We have had skips and even councillors have been down there cleaning it up but we are not getting anywhere.

“It must be the dirtiest back in the entire borough. The only trouble is that when the nice, good people who live round there complain to us and tell us about their alley, what can we do?

“We can’t prosecute unless people are prepared to say who’s done it.

“People are just using it as a dumping ground.

“It will all be shifted and then it will start all over again. It’s disgusting.”

Coun Davies added there was a problem with bins being set on fire.

He said: “Someone who lives there said two dustbins had been set on fire.

“But what can you expect when very few of the bins are taken in?”

Darwen Town Council mayor and Sudell councillor Paul Browne, who lives in Greenway Street, said action was being taken to clean the area.

He said: “It is a disgrace. We have had those backs cleaned at least three times just this year.

“I have been in touch with Tony Hopson, who is in charge of refuse at the council, and he is going to get a wagon in.

“When you go down there you’d think you were in a Third World country.”

Last week, it was announced that a woman had been fined almost £1,000 for dumping rubbish in her back alley in Gordon Street, also in the Sudell area of Darwen.