A close-knit neighbourhood has been embroiled in an uphill battle against troublesome fly-tippers repeatedly dumping piles of rubbish near their homes.
Sarah McCollough, 42, from Toxteth, said two areas of land on Moss Grove and Fern Grove, just off Lodge Lane, have been "blighted" by fly-tipping for months, despite multiple complaints made to Liverpool City Council.
She said: "We love living in this area, the community spirit is great, but this puts a blight on it. It looks horrible, it's a mess and it's embarrassing."
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Sarah first reported the fly-tipping problem three months ago when she noticed mattresses, sofas, bin bags, plaster boards and various debris piled up behind the Chaplins pub on Moss Lane.
She said: "It looks like there has been a house clearance, and they've dumped all the waste and whatever they've ripped out in the back alley. In the end I got in touch with fire and rescue, because I believe it's blocking the fire exit to the flats there, and it's combustible material as well.
"The stuff is piled really high, just a huge pile of waste, and not only is it unsightly, it's a health and safety risk, it's an environmental risk, and it's a fire risk."
The other problem area, she said, was a section of abandoned land on Fern Grove, overgrown with shrubs and weeds.
She said: "People are constantly fly-tipping sofas, broken windows, bags of rubbish, and this morning was the last straw - somebody has dumped about 50 bin bags in there. A friend of mine, her toddler ran into this area and she had to scramble through rubbish and broken glass.
"I've been reporting it for about three months, but I've had no reply from the council. We're just exasperated and absolutely fed up of having to walk past it and drive past it every day, reporting it to the council and getting ignored. It feels like hitting your head against a brick wall, sending fly-tipping reports on the council website every day."
A spokesperson for Liverpool City Council said: “A site assessment has been undertaken and an action plan has been put together to clear this waste. The Council fully appreciates the impact fly tipping has on communities and any illegal dumping will not be tolerated. The offenders are being tracked and will be brought in for questioning, which will then inform what legal action is taken.”
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