‘If the rubbish is dumped on Friday, then the rats will be chewing through everything all weekend, ‘ one local said
Dumped mattresses, beds and piles of builders’ rubbish have become a normal sight for residents in one Tower Hamlets estate, so much so that locals say the rats have started to chew through their cars.
Despite weekly council cleanups, residents living near Shadwell station say the flytipping has become out of control, with rubbish dumped daily outside their homes.
“The rats are everywhere,” says Alom, a resident of the Solander Gardens area. “If the rubbish is dumped on Friday, then the rats will be chewing through everything all over the weekend. They chewed through my car, and it’s cost me £240 to fix.
“I now have to pay because the council won’t come and just sort this out, it happens every day, and we have to live here. It affects me a lot, it is dirty, it’s horrible.”
‘There are rats everywhere. I don’t want my son to get ill’
A resident who did not wish to be named added: “In the morning, it’s cleared then, in the night, there are piles of it again. There are rats everywhere.
“The council don’t do anything to stop them. I don’t leave my car here because of the rats. I have a baby, and I don’t want my son to get ill if the rats have been all over my car. Who has dumped all of this rubbish? It’s not someone from our block; we all know each other. Why would we dump rubbish outside our own home?
“I report it all the time, we all report it. It affects the people who leave their car here the most. It’s crazy, just look at it all, man.”
In the latest figures released, Tower Hamlets Council recorded more than 6,700 reports of flytipping in 2023/2024 and increased the fines from £400 to £1,000 (£500 if paid early). Residents say that this hasn’t deterred the persistent offenders.
‘It’s just so unsightly, you just can’t escape it’
One resident, Martin Iddiols, 61, has lived on the estate for 11 years and says the issue has been persistent. Despite a recent council crackdown, he says he has not seen an improvement.
“It just builds and builds”, he told MyLondon, “it’s all just general crap.
“Somebody dumped a load of stuff here; it was just added to and built up over the weeks. It’s not necessarily people dumping stuff; it can be just that residents are not using the bulky waste collections, or don’t seem to care.
“I see things on the street that have reference numbers on them to be collected, but then nothing is done for weeks. It’s been an issue for years. I’ve lived here for 11 years, and we usually have a little quiet period, then it just all builds up again. It’s just so unsightly, you can’t escape it. We might be classed as council house dwellers, but this is somewhere we have to live.
“It probably costs the council tonnes of money, but something needs to be done.”
A social media account called Tower Dumplets has been documenting rubbish dumps across the borough since 2022, from rubbish that’s not been collected to fly-tipping that hasn’t been tackled.
The account was created one month after the Mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfar Rahman, declared a “Waste emergency” in the borough, adding: “My administration will no longer tolerate inaction and high levels of waste in our borough.”
Craig Simons, 44, lives in another area of Tower Hamlets and said that the issue is borough-wide, but he has not seen an improvement despite promises that the council and mayor were cracking down on it.
He said: “My partner used to report them all the time, and it is a lot better than it was when we had those bin strikes a couple of years back.
“It’s getting regular that you see tonnes of rubbish dumped, surely something can be done to sort this out? It’s embarrassing when I have people come to visit me and there is just piles and piles of rubbish on my doorstep.”
On top of residents’ frustrations that the dumping is not being dealt with in a timely manner, Tower Hamlets Council has been recorded as London’s worst-performing area for recycling rates, with a rate of 16%, the lowest among 32 boroughs, as reported by the Countryside Charity London.
A Tower Hamlets Council spokesperson said: “The Council takes a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping. We receive thousands of reports across the borough every year and spend millions of pounds on clearance and disposal, as well as investigating instances of fly-tipping. We aim to remove reported fly-tips from the public highway by the end of the next working day wherever possible, while larger or hazardous incidents require investigation before they can be safely cleared.
“Alongside clearing waste, we’ve taken robust enforcement action against those responsible. In 2024 we increased the Fixed Penalty Notice for fly-tipping from £400 to £1,000, and offenders can also face prosecution, unlimited fines and, in the most serious cases, imprisonment. Our enforcement officers investigate reports using CCTV and other evidence to identify those responsible.
“We urge residents to use the Council’s free bulky waste collection service and other lawful disposal options. The vast majority of residents act responsibly, and it is unfair that their communities should suffer because of the actions of a small minority. We will continue to investigate reports, use CCTV and other intelligence where available, and take action against anyone who seeks to undermine the cleanliness and safety of our borough.”
