Cheeky Balham fly-tippers strike again – but residents will not find rotting food and rubbish funny

By James Mayer, Local Democracy Reporter

Fly-tippers have struck again in Balham – dumping rubbish including a bike helmet – right below a “no fly-tipping sign”.

Families are furious about the “ironic” mess on Lochinvar Street in Balham.

They say Wandsworth council should fund more enforcement teams to prevent fly-tipping.

Surrounding the “no fly-tipping” sign is part of a bathroom cabinet, wooden planks, bulging black bags and a bike helmet.

Joe Darby, 33, a resident who lives round the corner from the fly-tipping site said: “I think the council should be better funded so it can have more enforcement teams working on this.

“I think the council should stop prioritising being the ‘low council tax’ borough and instead prioritise services.”

A Wandsworth council spokesperson said: “Fly-tipping and littering are problems up and down the country and unfortunately people who leave their rubbish out on pavements and street corners are contributing to this.

“Leaving bin liners containing food scraps out on the public highway long before collections are due is not only unsightly but also causes obstructions and gives cats, foxes and other animals plenty of time to scavenge through them and spread the contents all over pavements and across neighbourhoods.

“If anyone has information that could identify those responsible we’d love to hear from via email to flytipwitness@wandsworth.gov.uk.”

Last week, stinking piles of rubbish were spotted in Tooting after fly-tippers  dumped trash on street corners.

Council bosses declared war on cold callers who offer a cheap deal to take away rubbish – often without a licence.

The council’s environment spokesman Cllr  previously said: “People who dump rubbish on the streets of Wandsworth should understand that we are not a soft touch and we will make concerted efforts to detect and penalise those who commit this environmental crime.

“We have a dedicated team of investigators committed to catching those who pollute and damage our streets.

“We know that some local neighbourhoods are more badly affected than others and residents in these areas can rest assured we are putting in extra resources to tackle this problem.”