Fly-tipping 'hot spot' Ridge Road in Leeds targeted again after cleaned by council

A street in Leeds home to a man with terminal cancer has been targeted eight times in 12 months by fly-tippers with the road blocked three times in the last week.

Ridge Road in Meanwood has become a hot-spot for fly-tipping with mountains of illegal waste left across the road.

Since Leeds City Council cleared the waste on Wednesday, it has been hit two more times after appearing on ITV Calendar News on Tuesday 22 August.

Les Riley, who is 71-years-old and has terminal cancer has lived on the street for 65 years.

He told ITV News that say they have endured the problem for years.

Mr Riley said: "The people doing this need catching, they really do and not just a slap on the wrist either. Because you don't know what's in this lot.

"You don't know if there's needles in it, there's glass... you just don't know what you're dealing with."

The illegal dump was subsequently removed by Leeds City Council but within hours the fly-tippers had returned and continued to dump waste two more times over the next three days.

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council 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.

“We recognise that fly-tipping is a national issue which blights affected communities and can also create access problems on streets and pathways.

“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."

During the past year 12 vehicles used for fly-tipping have been seized in Leeds and those responsible prosecuted in court resulting in fines and a custodial sentence.

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