Over-spilling bins and rubbish '˜utter disgrace' in Sunderland neighbourhood

Members of the public have contacted the Echo to raise concerns about rubbish in the Hylton Castle area, particularly its shopping area in Cheadle Road, close to Hylton Castle Primary School.

Bins were seen overflowing with bottles and other food and drink packaging items.

The latest rubbish woes come after reported last week how a heap of waste was left dumped in a back lane in the Eden Vale area of the city.

Council chiefs renewed calls for residents to dispose of their litter appropriately if bins are full.

One fed-up resident said of the latest sighting: “The area around the shops was an utter disgrace again today.”

The man also called for more to be done to catch out litter bugs.

“Emptying the bins and tidying every few weeks at best is not adequate,” he said.

“It is scandalous that the council asks for money via council tax for this shambles.

“Stop whinging about cuts to refuse collection and come up with a viable cost efficient plan.”

The city council’s portfolio holder for city services, Councillor Michael Mordey, said: “The city council’s resources are getting more and more limited and it cannot go round cleaning up after people all the time.

“If the bins are full, look to the next one or take your rubbish home and dispose of it appropriately.

“The council will continue to do its best with the limited resources it has available.

“But, to tackle this problem we need everyone to help out and take a pride in keeping their city clean, green and tidy.”

Sunderland City Council last week announced it was planning to make bin collections for everyday waste once a fortnight instead of weekly, with the charges for bulk collections to go up by £2.50 to £17.50 and the fee for composting and garden waste to increase the same amount up to £25.

The cash-strapped authority says moving to an alternate collection scheme between the green waste bins and blue recycling containers will save it £750,000 a year, with a £4.72million grant awarded to the council in 2012 to find the weekly rounds coming to an end in 2017.

Coun Mordey said last week the council is carrying out a review of environmental enforcement, which oversees the action brought against flytippers.

The results of the discussions are expected to be complete by next month.

Coun Mordey added that the council are reliant on members of the public reporting any incidents of fly-tipping or excess rubbish being left in the city.