RUBBISH that had been building up in an alleyway in Evesham was finally set to be cleared following a resident's three month battle with a housing association.

Michele Handford said the rubbish near her property originally began to appear in May when she saw her neighbour dump it there.

She says since then the pile has grown over the summer, added to by flytippers, with mattresses, pieces of wood and rubbish bags appearing.

“It is awful, just disgusting,” the Fairfield Place resident said.

“This is a health hazard - I’m really surprised that I haven’t seen any rats yet. It has got so bad and high after piling up, I can’t open the door of my garden into the alleyway. I originally thought the alleyway was council owned, but it is Rooftop Housing Group (RHG) land. I have been into their office on several occasions, almost on a weekly basis, to try and get this resolved and l have been consistently lied to that it would be sorted.”

The Evesham Journal contacted RHG on Wednesday morning, and a spokesman said it was expected to be cleared later that day.

The spokesman said: “The rubbish was left by a former tenant who, on moving out, decided it was appropriate to dump rubbish over the fence. The job to remove the rubbish was logged on September 14. The clearance was passed on to our contractor who reported back that the job been completed. It hadn’t. We have since been made aware of the problem, passed it back to the contractors, who will be clearing the alley. We want to make sure that our communities are successful places to live, however, some people in those communities, whether private renters, owner occupiers, or housing association tenants, behave in selfish ways making life just a bit more difficult for others. Where it’s our responsibility we will always make good."