Residents have spoke of their anger at living on a 'disgusting' street where a 7ft mountain of rubbish dumped in an overflowing skip has led to an invasion of rats.<br /><br />Homeowners on Sladefield Road, in Ward End, Birmingham, say their lives are made 'hell' by the festering piles of trash left along their residential street. <br /><br />They say the problem has become so bad, the entire road now stinks and groups of rats are plaguing the area and can regularly be seen scurrying along the pavements. <br /><br />Parents are refusing to let their children play outdoors due to the health hazard which has also left people too embarrassed to invite people around.<br /><br />Locals say piles of rubbish are dumped all along the road but the worst problems have been caused by a skip abandoned just yards from a primary school.<br /><br />Since being left on the street a month ago, it has become a magnet for fly-tipped waste before it was eventually removed by the council on Wednesday (15/2).<br /><br />Shocking photos show how the stomach-churning pile grew to around 7ft (2.1m) tall and included household and building waste as well as a pair of ladders. <br /><br />Ironically, the skip was placed on double yellow lines next to a wrongly-spelled 'No Dumping' sign declaring: "No Rubbish Damp Here".<br /><br />Residents say their 'lawless' street is also plagued by antisocial behaviour and is facing its worst problems in 40 years due to lack of policing. <br /><br />Shop owner Abrar Khan said he had tried to find the company responsible for dumping the skip outside his store after it began affecting his trade. <br /><br />Shah Nawaz, 56, a business owner on Washwood Heath road, said the rubbish started when people ignored or didn’t understand the bin collection days. <br /><br />Another local resident added: "It's hell living around here. People don't invite their families around because it's not safe and it stinks now. It's disgusting, like a slum." <br /><br />Councillor Majid Mahmood, Birmingham City Council cabinet member for environment, said: “Following complaints from local people we took action to remove the skip on Sladefield Road today.<br /><br />“Clean streets are a top priority in this city – so we are taking a zero tolerance approach when skips are plonked on our streets without the right permissions or any signage that enables us to contact the owner.<br /><br />“In this case, the skip had hazardous items and was attracting rodents. <br /><br />"We carried out extensive enquires with residents and businesses – but nobody knew who had put it there. <br /><br />"This should act as a clear warning to anyone thinking of doing the same. <br /><br />"We will take action and if we do find out who you are, we will seek to recover costs or take any appropriate legal action.”
