Thornton Heath rubbish “attracting rats and leaving kids nowhere to play”

By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter

Piles of rubbish outside flats in Thornton Heath have attracted rats and meant that children can “no longer play outdoors”.

Residents living in blocks in Pawsons Road, owned by Croydon council, claim that their general waste was not collected for more than a month.

And the smell meant that some were not able to open their windows.

The rubbish was finally collected this week after we contacted the council.

But speaking before it was taken away, Tina Jerome, who has lived on the estate for 24 years, said that she and her neighbours were at the end of their tether.

They called a residents’ meeting on Sunday evening after allegedly not getting any response from the council.

The 59-year-old said: “It is disgusting. We want to be proud of our estate.

“The bins are overflowing and the black bags are all on the floor – this is supposed to be where the kids play, but they can’t because of the rubbish and the rats on top of that.

“The rats and foxes have opened up the bags so rubbish has been blowing everywhere.

“There is a bad smell now and flies and maggots as well.

“We know there are cutbacks because of coronavirus but we keep getting excuse after excuse.”

Another resident, who did not want to give her name, said she had stopped her seven and 11-year-old children from playing outside.

She said: “It is horrible, there are so many flies everywhere. It is disgusting.

“We are also having to keep rubbish in our houses a little bit longer now.

“It is getting hot now and there are rats – I can’t tell the kids because they will be scared.”

The two women said that the recycling on the estate had been collected.

They added that on Monday a bin lorry did come round, but they were told there was too much for them to collect.

But a spokeswoman for Croydon council said it was badly parked cars at the flats that were the problem – adding that the rubbish has now been collected.

She said: “Parked vehicles have been blocking access to the bin store, preventing crews from collecting waste.

“We have painted new road markings to stop this happening in the future, and our contractors have cleared the site as a priority.”

Pictured top: The overflowing rubbish in Pawsons Road, Croydon