House used as makeshift dump unrecognisable after nightmare neighbour evicted

Some people complain about their neighbours not mowing their lawns – but imagine living next to a man who turned his garden into a literal dump.

This is exactly what happened on Peach Avenue in Stafford – and residents had to put up with the misery of a mountain of junk which attracted rats and made their children ill.

Now, before-and-after pictures show how the house of horrors has finally been cleared of rubbish after more than a year.

Families said the festering eyesore had been making their children ill and attracting rats which were invading neighbours homes.

Last week, tenant Steven Glover was booted out of the rented property after Stafford Borough Council was granted an official closure order.

And following a row with the local council which stretched over 14 months, the semi-detached home has finally been cleared of waste.

Neighbours said it took council officials four trips over the space of a week to remove the huge pile from the driveway and front garden.

But they are still angry it took so long for the local authority to take action following months of complaints from residents.

One mum-of-two, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s more a sense of relief but I’m still very cross at the council.

“It’s the fact it has taken this long and they’ve repeatedly ignored our complaints for months on end. You can’t change the fact we’ve been living with rats for so long or that kids were falling ill. It should never have taken this long.

“It just shows as soon as they get some negative publicity, they can act, and act quickly. It took about three or four days to get it all gone so it was possible all this time. We had pest control come out on Friday and lay 20 rat blocks down.

“They are poison blocks which up to ten rats at a time will take. When he came back Monday he was stunned as they had all gone. That just shows you the extent of the rat problem. When one of the council men opened one of the bins, he had a rat jump out at him.

“We’re worried about the long term impact as we don’t know exactly what he’s been burning there. It’s been an absolute nightmare but hopefully we can all start to move on now.”

Another local added: “Everyone is glad this nightmare looks finally to be over. It should never have been allowed to get to this point though. We’ve repeatedly complained but nothing was done for months on end. It’s disgusting that it took so long.

“The council’s reputation has undoubtedly been damaged by their reluctance to deal with this matter, especially so close to a primary school too. The fire brigade have been called out numerous times to deal with fires there, so its been a stretch on public resources too.

“It’s taken a year to get anything done and it was all sorted in a week. It’s frustrating as it just shows how quickly it could have been dealt with in the first place.”

Shocking pictures had shown piles of debris were stacked up on the driveway – including rubble, sofas, mattresses, wooden panels, fridges and carpets.

But photos taken yesterday (Wed) show how the property is now boarded up with all the rubbish finally removed.

Councillor Ian Fordham, cabinet member for environment, said: “I hope this brings an end to the misery this person has brought to the residents of Peach Avenue.

“It was crucial that we had the proper legal process in place to not only get this unsightly mess removed, but to ensure it did not happen on this land again.

“We secured a Closure Order from the courts that bans anyone, including the tenant, from stepping foot on the property. If they do they can be arrested.

“We have boarded up the house and had this significant amount of rubbish removed – and we will be billing the tenant or owner for the cost of doing that.

“We will be working with the owner to make sure the house can be brought back into use and become a positive addition to the street.”

He added: “Thank you to the police and other partners for their help in making sure we get the right outcome for the neighbours and we will work with residents to address any ongoing concerns they may have.”

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