Trader claims fly-tipping in Lye is attracting giant rats

Poshkutz dog grooming parlour owner Gary Farmer, who devotes hours and hours each week to cleaning up Lye, was horrified to see around 200 bags of rotting household waste along with mattresses and window frames dumped on a car park in Clinic Drive.

Fly-tipping in Clinic Drive, Lye. Pic - Gary Farmer (Image: Gary Farmer)

The Dudley Council-owned car park has long been plagued by fly-tipping but was cleared by the local authority in the autumn to help spruce it up and encourage more shoppers into town.

On Wednesday (January 11), however, an infuriated Mr Farmer took to Facebook Live to say he would not be clearing this latest pile of rubbish for fear of health risks due to the "sheer amount of rats and vermin".

He said the mess has been attracting “rats the size of Yorkshire terriers”.

Mr Farmer, who has spent more than three years doing nightly clean-ups in Lye High Street, added: "I'm not willing to make myself ill over it. In three years of doing this – I’ve been ill too many times.”

He branded those responsible “dirty rotten scumbags who have no pride in where they live and don’t care about the hard work people do trying to improve the area”.

He added: “We had none of this seven or eight years ago.”

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He also shared images of rubbish piled high on a neighbouring car park behind Lye Post Office and Lye Pharmacy.

Rubbish piled up on land behind Lye Post Office. Image - Gary Farmer (Image: Gary Farmer)

Mr Farmer blames rogue landlords for failing to provide adequate waste facilities for tenants and a lack of enforcement.

He’s also discovered trade waste dumped on the car parks and has questioned why the culprits have not been brought to justice following the installation of high-tech CCTV cameras designed to identify fly-tippers who blight the area.

Dudley Council has been contacted for comment.