By Tara O’Connor, Local Democracy Reporter
Hundreds of people have signed a petition against fly-tipping in Croydon started by a mum-to-be who was fed up of seeing beds dumped on the street.
Helen from Broad Green started the petition calling on the council to take action on Monday, January 3 .
It has touched a nerve with locals, attracting almost 1000 signatures in just one week.
Helen, who did not want her surname published, hopes it will force the council to sort out the issue.
The 31-year-old said: “I am fairly new to Croydon, I moved here in June. I am a big lover of walking and to be honest since I’ve moved here I can’t bear the rubbish.”
Helen says when she has contacted the council about the issue she has been told to report fly tipping on the council’s app, but she thinks more needs to be done to stop it happening in the first place.
“I have never seen an area that is quite so bad I have had enough of it,” she said.
“Seeing a divan bed and mattress on the side of the road isn’t uncommon.
“It is just not nice. If that is the look of the area you are going to keep attracting more litter.
“It affects all residents, we have to live here. I am six months pregnant and when I’ve got the baby I am not going to be happy if I am walking the pram around and having to scoot around people’s rubbish.”
Councillor Muhammad Ali, cabinet member for sustainable Croydon said: “Our street cleansing teams are out cleaning the borough’s streets every day of the week, on top of that we clean up over 2000 flytips every month and we have an army of fantastic volunteers who help keep their communities clean by picking up litter on a regular basis.
“Unfortunately a small minority of uncaring people continue to drop litter, allow their dogs to foul the streets and fly tip, and this is simply not acceptable.
“Littering and flytipping is an offense, and we will not hesitate to prosecute individuals and businesses wherever we can – having seized over 50 vehicles, and in just the past two years – handed out over 1100 fixed penalty notices.
“All people must take responsibility for the waste they create, reducing it as much as possible, and disposing of it safely and correctly – I thank the majority who do.
“Our street cleansing teams respond to complaints as they come in, and we continue to encourage reporting of flytips and other issues through the Love Clean Streets App.
“But we need help and commitment from everyone in Croydon to fight littering and flytipping in order to keep our streets clean and safe.”
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