Woman who's lived in Birmingham home for 45 years says she's 'ashamed' by fly-tipping

• ITV News Central reporter Lee Comley has joined Birmingham City Council refuse workers as they clean up a fly-tipping hotspot in the city.

A woman who's lived in an area of Birmingham since the 1970's, says she's ashamed of her home because of the fly-tipping outside her front door.

Jasbir Kaur Bahra has lived in her Handsworth home for 45 years and says she's never experienced so much rubbish left dumped outside her property.

She says there are sofas, beds, mattresses and household waste often sat outside her house in the Carlton Avenue area.

"They're doing it during the day, they're doing it at night. They're not scared of anything or anybody.

"It's not worth living here with all this rubbish. When visitors come, I feel disgraced about the rubbish around here."

In the West Midlands, there are 12 fly-tipping incidents per 1,000 people in a year.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council issued the fourth highest number of fines for fly-tipping in the UK in 2022/23 - with 1,172 fines issued against 1,870 incidents.

While North Warwickshire has the seventh lowest number of fines issued for fly-tipping in the UK, with 1 fine issued out of 912 incidents.

In a statement, the Local Government Association said: "Fly-tipping is inexcusable. It is not only an eyesore for residents, but a serious public health risk, creating pollution and attracting rats and other vermin.

"We continue to urge the Government to review sentencing guidelines for fly-tipping, so that offenders are given bigger fines for more serious offences to act as a deterrent."

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