Residents hit out at 'nightmare' pile of rubbish behind Slough flats

A heap of rubbish behind a block of flats in Slough is a ‘nightmare’ for residents but Slough Borough Council says it is not its responsibility to clear it.

Residents of Salt Hill Mansions, a privately-owned block of flats off Bath Road in Slough, raised concerns about the health and safety risk the rubbish behind the residential building is creating.

Complaints have been made about the smell of the waste accumulating in the hot weather.

One Salt Hill Mansions resident, who did not wish to be named, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s just an eyesore. We have rats there and we’ve got foxes that are going and tearing open the [rubbish] bags.

“It’s a nightmare.”

Gates have been put up to ensure the rubbish bins are in a locked compound that is only accessible to residents.

But another resident said there is now so much litter, the gates can no longer be opened or locked, so people just leave bags outside the gates.

He said: “The gates are wide open now so it’s a free for all. People can just turn up and get rid of rubbish and no one says a word. There are no cameras.

“Earlier in the year two massive skips arrived, and someone cleared all the rubbish there.

“It’s not household rubbish there. I mean, it seems like someone is fly-tipping. There are bathtubs and all sorts of things, sofas, chairs. Now it’s gone back to how it was.

“Kids play there and then there are rats running around the tops of the dust bins. Foxes are there every night.”

The refuse bins are collected fortnightly but because one of the bins is damaged, the rubbish has been overflowing and is no longer cleared regularly.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Slough Borough Council said that the responsibility to fix the bin falls to the managing agent, if the flats are privately owned.

Mint Lettings Ltd is the managing agent for Salt Hill Mansions. The company was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.

A Slough Borough Council spokesperson said: “We will not collect overflowing bins, the extra waste will need to be arranged to be removed either by the resident or the managing agent if you have one.

“The responsibility here is for residents to make sure they report damaged bins in a timely manner, to prevent an overflow situation.

“If you live in a property (generally private flats like Salt Hill Mansions) that has a managing agent, please report a damaged bin through to the agent so they can arrange to pay for a replacement.”

The spokesperson added that for residential buildings that do not have a managing agent, which includes council properties, residents need to report and arrange to pay for a replacement bin.