FED-UP people living in a neighbourhood of Blackburn say they have been waiting five weeks for a pile of disgusting fly-tipped rubbish to be picked up.

The field on Chester Close, close to Audley Community Centre, has been strewn with household waste, gas canisters and household appliances heaped upon each other, with criminals thought to be to blame.

One resident, Jennie Kirby, said she was concerned for the children and elderly in the community and reported the fly-tipping to Blackburn Council five weeks ago.

However, the mess is still there, and Ms Kirby says children are now playing in it.

She said: “The rubbish has been gradually building up and the council agreed to pick it up at first but now they have said they won’t because they have not got the resources.

“More than one person has reported this rubbish in the last month but the council will only pick up small lots.”

Miss Kirby lives a couple of doors away and normally walks her dog there, but says she will no longer do this as it is an unsafe area.

She said: “I saw this on April 28 and since that time there has been more and more dumped there.

“I think it could be the same person because it looks like somebody has renovated their house and I have seen children playing in it.

“A few of us have reported it numerous times. It’s been five weeks and still they keep saying they cannot pick it up because it’s too big of a job.”

Cllr Jim Smith said the council had seen a spike in fly-tipping cases during lockdown and they had a back-log of areas to clear.

He said: “As we always do with fly-tipping cases, we collect the rubbish as soon as we can, but sometimes other jobs take priority.

“We are aware of this incident and I will chase it up to get it collected quickly.

“This type of crime is down to dirty people and criminals and this case sounds like a criminal as they may often be paid to get rid of rubbish but do not do their job properly.

“If we catch people doing this then of course they will be fined, but at the moment we are stretched due to the high cases. It has taken longer because during the lockdown things are little difficult when we do not have the resources and big fly-tipping cases need a team to collect it.”