FLY-TIPPED waste and bags of rubbish piled high in a town centre street have left neighbours furious.

A mattress, it's divan base, a cooker and a fridge freezer have all appeared outside houses in Cambria Bridge Road in recent weeks.

The rubbish mountain has attracted rats to the area and Paul Dunn, who lives in adjoining Albion Street, has had enough.

Although Swindon Borough Council recently cleared up the mess, more has since appeared and Mr Dunn says it is a problem that just will not go away.

The 57-year-old said: “It was all cleared but now there’s 10 bags back out again. We’re getting rats now, I’ve seen two dead rats because of it.

“People are taking advantage of it, they see there’s a lot of rubbish and they think they can add to it.

“More and more of the houses are being let out and there’s too many people in them so they’ve got nowhere to put their rubbish.”

South Swindon Parish Council vice-chairman Janine Howarth says the borough should be doing more.

She added: “While it is the parish’s responsibility to collect small-level fly-tipping, the reason why fly-tipping continues to recur as a problem is due to people leaving household waste for collection prior to the day it is collected.

“The presentation of household waste for collection is a matter for the borough council and we would urge them to work with residents to ensure household waste is displayed on the day of collection. If necessary, they have the enforcement powers to deter this.

“While we would like more enforcement powers, it remains the job of the council to enforce fly-tipping and correct household waste collection procedures.”

A spokesman for the council said it is trying to combat the problem.

They said: “We have cleared all the waste in this location in partnership with the parish council and we would like to thank them for their help in clearing the larger items.

“This is a recurring issue, which we believe may be caused by new residents moving into the area who may be unaware of the collection arrangements for their waste.

“To combat this we have regularly sent letters out to individual properties reminding them of when they should put their waste out for collection.

“However, there is no excuse for fly-tipping and we will take enforcement action if necessary.

“Residents in Cambria Bridge Road should use the blue bags supplied by the council to put their general waste out every Tuesday and they can put their waste out the night before or on the day of collection ready for us to collect from 6.30am.”