'Stop dumping rubbish on our doorstep' says Deepdale Community Association

A community group is calling on fly-tippers to stop dumping rubbish on its doorstep.
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Members of the Deepdale Community Association (DCA) are also calling for the mess in Burrow Road to be cleaned up.

Chairman Mohammed Irfan says despite calling on Preston City Council (PCC) and Network Rail neither organisation is taking responsibility for clearing it up.

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“We have got footage of people dumping bags of rubbish,” he said.

Members of Deepdale neighbourhood action group who want to keep their area clean and tidyMembers of Deepdale neighbourhood action group who want to keep their area clean and tidy
Members of Deepdale neighbourhood action group who want to keep their area clean and tidy

“We litter pick ourselves on a weekly basis but we can’t get onto the embankment because its blocked off.

“We know that Network Rail owns the land but they say it’s not a priority and PCC is not taking responsibility for clearing it up.

“But we have rats in homes. It’s affecting our health and wellbeing.

“We are educating people about not throwing their rubbish.

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“We want the area to be cleaned up and the fencing to be made higher so that its harder to throw rubbish over it.

“We also want planters there to make the area look nice as another way of stopped people fly tipping.”

A Network Rail spokesman told the Post that it would be cleaning up the area in the "near future".

The spokesman said: “The railway is not a dumping ground for rubbish and we urge local people to dispose of their litter and waste in the correct way.

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"We work with local authorities to help tackle this problem and appreciate the residents’ concerns.

"We have to prioritise our work based on safety and will clean up this location as part of a planned litter pick up in the near future.”

Coun Robert Boswell, cabinet member for Environment at the city council, said: “The council is aware of and shares concerns about fly tipping issues on Burrow Road. However, we’re unable to access this land as it is privately owned by Network Rail.

“We’ve contacted Network Rail about this and previous occurrences of fly tipping and hope that it can be cleared as soon as possible. We’re grateful for the work of community groups in helping us to keep Preston tidy and ask anyone who sees fly tipping to report it using our website.”

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Deepdale Community Association was launched in March 2019 to tackle issues in the area. Last year Network Rail contractors cleared what one group co ordinator Idnan Sabir says was about 10 tonnes of waste from the area.

He said: “The rubbish is just ruining the area. It was clean for a couple of months but it’s started getting quite bad again.

“It’s the smell. We’ve got footage of people coming down in the early hours of the morning and dumping their bags of rubbish.”