Broken glass among fly-tipped rubbish causing a 'risk to health' at Southampton hotspot

ITV News Meridian reporter Derek Johnson spoke to locals who say fly-tipping is worse since the pandemic began.

Community leaders say fly-tipping in parts of Southampton has become a "risk to health".

Ryan Sinclair, who is the manager at the YMCA Youth Centre in Newtown, said: "It's a constant problem, it's a risk to young people, it's a risk to health we have broken bottles, sharp edges."

Ryan has applied for funding to install CCTV cameras around the building, which has become a fly-tipping hotspot.

He said: "If we catch people fly-tipping then we have it on camera and we can look into prosecuting repeat offenders."

There were thousands of cases of fly-tipping in the city over the past year, but no one was prosecuted.

The council says it plans to crackdown on offenders and is expanding its enforcement team.

However those living in the area say, as soon as rubbish is taken away, more appears in its place.

Rubbish is also frequently dumped outside the YMCA Pre-school in Newtown and its residents have had enough.

Manjort Kaur, who works at the pre-school, said: "It's terrible, usually there's glass, bits of metal. Children are having to walk on the road and not the pavement because they can't walk past it's so dangerous.

"The people who do this have got no humanity about them."Southampton City Council said it is determined to secure convictions against the small number of individuals that repeatedly and systematically fly-tip and restore some pride to the city.