RUBBISH dumping and littering in a ‘once pleasant community’ has been labelled as some of the worst in the borough by a distressed resident.

Alleyways around Infirmary Street in Blackburn have been described as being in a ‘very bad state’, and according to one home-owner, the behaviour is being tolerated because of a fear of reprisals.

The resident, who asked to remain anonymous, said: “The state of the streets in the Infirmary area are appalling. The alleyways of Leach Street, Vale Street, Abraham Street, and Infirmary Street surely must be some of the worst in the borough.

“Every week there are settees, beds, bin bags of food waste and debris scattered all over the place. It’s a very bad state.”

Photos taken by the Lancashire Telegraph show three different alleyways where sofas, mattresses, bin bags and a washing machine have been carelessly dumped.

The resident said he was worried about reporting the problems directly to the council for fear of reprisals from neighbours. He said: “A lot of this is to do with bad tenants, and landlords that have no concerns for the neighbourhood as they live elsewhere.

“This area use to be a pleasant hustle-bustle of a community but now a lot of those troubled terraced homes generate anti-social behaviour and the houses look a state. A handful of the mature residents who take pride in their homes live a sad sheltered life and just tolerate the disruption.”

The concerned resident said despite witnessing council workers clearing up the alleyways on a regular basis, waste and rubbish is often dumped again soon after.

He said: “We’ve had rat infestations, problematic families, and anti-social behaviour. It makes the nicer residents in the area feel very down and the neighbourhood outlook is very grim. It’s very distressing.”

Executive member for environment at Blackburn with Darwen council, councillor Jim Smith, said the council have been doing all they can to tackle the problem but ultimately it’s the responsibility of the landlords to ensure the tenants are keeping on top of things.

Cllr Smith said: “The council does what it can, we’ve even reduced the price of how much it costs to remove bulky items from £10 to £7.50, and we have caught and fined people. We’re looking at different ways to tackle the handful of rogue landlords in the area, as they need to take more responsibility for who they’re allowing into their properties.

“The local councillors are very upset about this as well as there’s nothing more frustrating for us than to see rubbish being dumped immediately after we’ve cleaned the streets.”