Preston fly-tipping: Council investigating issues near church - but that's just the start says one concerned resident

The city council is planning to contact the owners of a lay-by/ car park area off Curwen Street outside the former St Luke's church which has been repeatedly filled with fly tipped rubbish.

But one local resident says the problem of tipping is not just limited to this site, which the Post highlighted in a report earlier this week.

After sharing a photo of the roadside, which was piled with matresses, a bed, a sofa, clothes and other discarded possessions, the city resident who wanted to remain anonymous, said: "There is a massive issue with fly tipping. I've lived her over 20 years and I've never known it as bad....there are just random bags everywhere."

Describing the dumping on Curwen Street as "disgusting" she said she had particularly noticed it because she had walked past rather than driving by. She continued: "I've never seen anything like it. I don't live on that street, but it must be awful. It' such a shame because it's a beautiful church."

She said she had also noticed spare land in the Skeffington Road area was being used for tipping and praised the city council for dealing with other local fly-tipping, which included dumping fridge freezers and Bags For Life full of discarded goods. But she said it was an ongoing problem in the area: "It's a prime location where they dump. The council came and really gutted it."

She said when the council arrived for a second day of clearing, more rubbish had been dumped there. She said: "To be fair with the council they are continually coming all the time. They say it's just constant.You move it and then there's something else."

Preston Council said the Curwen Street site is under investigation and staff are seeking to contact the owners of the land. After being declared redundant as a church St Luke's was sold by the Church of England in 1994.

Permission was granted for its conversion to a care home. But it has now been empty for some time and most recently, in March 2021, planning permission was approved to create seven residential luxury apartments in the building.

Coun Robert Boswell, Cabinet member for Environment and Community Safety at Preston City Council, said: "Our Street Cleansing and Waste Enforcement team work tirelessly, cleaning up and investigating reports of fly tipping from members of the public. I encourage residents of Preston to report any fly-tipping incidents via our website immediately, giving the team specific details including locations which will enable appropriate action to be taken as soon as possible.”

* For our report on the problem on Curwen Street see here and for our picture gallery see here* To subscribe to the Lancashire Post see here