Residents' fears over constant fly-tipping on Ridge Road in Leeds
Video report by Michael Billington
Residents of a street blighted by fly-tipping say they their lives could be put at risk by rubbish blocking the route to their homes.
People living on Ridge Road in Meanwood, Leeds, say they have endured "years" of problems with waste being illegally dumped on the road.
Les Riley, whose family has lived on Ridge Road for 65 years, said: "The road is very dangerous. It's unkept, it's unclean, it's a bloody miss. And that's why they tip."
Mr Riley, 71, who has terminal cancer, said residents have resorted to clearing waste themselves to gain access to their homes, including the latest mound of rubbish which was left around three weeks ago.
He said: "You could walk by but you couldn't get a car by so we had to move it by hand over to one side, which is bloody hard work. You don't know if there's needles in there.
"We've had to move [rubbish] many, many times – even 10 o'clock at night. We've had to move two tonnes of rubble, bricks, soil, glass. It's all the time. It's an every week thing.
"It's maddening, really frustrating. It damages your car. I had a fall there two years ago and ended up having seizures. It's a nightmare, it's scary really."
Despite signs warning fly-tippers they face prosecution, residents say the area has become a magnet for illegal dumping.
Neighbour David Tebbutt, who has lived on Ridge Road since he was a child, said: "It used to be absolutely gorgeous here. Now it's absolutely terrible. I've fallen, my car has been damaged.
"I can't use my mobility scooter - it will just break it - or my walker."
He added: "I have sleepless nights because of it, because I'm scared if anything happens to me emergency services won't get up [the street]."
Leeds City Council said it had responded to five reports of flytipping on Ridge Road in the last year.
A spokesperson said: "We are committed to doing all we can to make our communities accessible and clean and we encourage residents to contact us with any concerns they have so we can take and action or find a resolution wherever we can.
"Where evidence is found Leeds City Council will always take action against fly-tippers and use all legal powers at our disposal to tackle this criminal activity."
In the last year 12 vehicles have been seized for fly-tipping and there had been "significant fines" for perpetrators, as well as a custodial sentence in one instance.
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