MOUNDS of rubbish have been causing concern to residents at Jack Russell Close in Stroud.

Householders say the bin store is not large enough to accommodate all their rubbish and it is regularly overflowing with bin bags.

One tenant, who does not wish to be named, said that the waste build-up has become a hygiene concern and is attracting rats.

The Close is owned and maintained by Sovereign, one of the largest housing associations in the UK.

Sovereign say that the waste storage compartment at the site is large enough for the rubbish generated by tenants, but they believe the issue has been caused by fly tippers, who have been adding their bin bags to those of the tenants. The bin store is located on a public path and so is easily accessible.

Dale Evans, Sovereign's housing services manager, said: “That our customers live in a place that is safe and appealing is really important to us.

"This is why, throughout the pandemic, we regularly cleared up excess waste – which we suspect is caused by flytipping – in and around the bin store at Jack Russell Close, with no charge.

"We’ve also worked with the local authority to make sure that there are sufficient bins for the number of households, protected the bin store with a secure key-coded lock and will continue to liaise with our customers and the management company to find a long-term solution to this issue.”