'Awful' fly tip on Wolverhampton street forces businesses to the brink of ruin
Businesses on a secluded street in Wolverhampton are at crisis point as prolific fly tipping is preventing them from taking or sending out deliveries.
Hatton Street in Bilston sees frequent dumping of everything from beds to rubble to fridges, with bosses estimating there to be between 30 and 40 tonnes of rubbish on the street currently.
Wolverhampton Council is offering a reward in the form of a £100 gift card for information on the perpetrators.
The piles of rubbish mean deliveries cannot be fulfilled to several businesses on the street, who without these deliveries, are days away from facing closure.
Kevin Sefton from Sedgley works for K & B Profiles Ltd, a family-run company which offers steel profile services.
Kevin said: "You can't get anything more than a small pick-up down the street and this will affect the business within three or four days if it's not removed.
"We normally have deliveries of steel plates and liquid oxygen tanks, which require a big vehicle. We'll need these items within a week or so.
"If we can't get the stuff, we can't carry on."
Other business on the street include garages and a factory which makes smoking shelters, all of which are struggling with the impact of the rubbish.
The current pile of rubbish has been mounting since February, but the street has endured fly tipping since at least October 2021.
Previous rubbish has been moved by Wolverhampton Council, but not long after it is cleared, more is dumped.
Kevin added: "It took the council a month and a half to clear it before Christmas, and as soon as it was cleared, people were dumping again.
"We've been reporting the current rubbish to the council for the last six to eight weeks and most of it is still here.
"You can smell it from in the factory now and we'll soon have a rat problem.
"We've rung the police, who ring the council, and it goes round and round with no one doing anything.
"The council have said that we're a priority but they haven't told us a date for when they'll clean it up.
"They said that they don't have the money to spend on cameras or barriers and that's the end of it.
"Even if the rubbish is moved, it'll start piling up again.
"We just don't know what the answer is."
When contacted for a statement, a spokesman for Wolverhampton Council said: "We are urgently investigating this awful example of fly-tipping, we fully understand the concerns of local residents and businesses and will be getting it removed as soon as possible.
"It will require a specialist contractor due to the volume of the waste and this will come at a cost to taxpayers.
"A similar incident last year cost more than £4,000 to clear up and it is taxpayers who are footing the bill for the criminals who commit these offences.
"We want to catch and prosecute the perpetrators of this incident, anyone with any information to help our investigation can email environmentalhealth@wolverhampton.gov.uk or call 01902 552700 and an officer will call back.
"An Enjoy Wolverhampton gift card to the value of £100 will be given to anyone that provides information leading to a prosecution."
