Fly-tipping left on road for more than a year

Four yellow skips, red sofas, old mattresses and bin bags have all been left on the side of a residential road in Moseley, Birmingham, for more than a year.

The fly-tipping, which started after three houses of multiple occupancy (HMO) were shut down, has left some residents on Park Road unable to sleep, out of fear it might be set alight.

Community activist Ben Hallam said: "It's a fire risk. All it takes is a cigarette or something to go there and the whole place could go up. This is all flammable material in the skips and sofas."

On the same day the BBC contacted Birmingham City Council, fly-tipping was taken from the pavement and the authority said it had removed rubbish previously.

However, locals said they were still concerned about the four full skips which remained on the private property and have been trying to contact the owner of the land for months, to no avail.

According to the Birmingham City Council website, planning permission to turn the three buildings into 14 self-contained residential units was submitted in July 2025, and was approved four months ago, in June 2026.

In a statement sent to the BBC, the landowner said: "The property is not held by a large company, it represents an investment by a small family-owned company. The position with the waste is unfortunate."

"The whole planning process for this property has taken over 18 months; it is of no benefit to us to have the property empty.

"We have incurred significant costs and delays caused by this lengthy planning process."

They added that "contractors have been engaged and will complete the works within a 12-month timeline."

Locals worry more anti-social behaviour will arise in the area, if the skips aren't removed soon.

Hallam said: "As a resident I do feel quite scared with this at the moment. Really, this is the owners responsibility and to try and get it sorted out, because it is awful.

"If I hear teenagers or children around at night, which they are, it is a big worry. We have lots of elderly people on this road as well that are scared."

Lib Dem Moseley Ward Councillor, Izzy Knowles, said she has been working with residents to try and resolve the issues.

"The owner should never have let it get into that state in the first place. It's a beautiful property, they need to keep an eye on it, and they need to be ensuring that it's clean and tidy outside.

"I contacted the empty property officer, who has actually now sent an official letter to the owners requesting them to clean it up, and if nothing happens within 28 days then there will be a formal notice."

Another local resident, Alison Kirkpatrick, said she has been attempting to contact the landowner for months in the hope of getting the issues resolved.

"It's a blight on the road. It's a hygiene problem and we have lots of elderly residents and most of the residents in the road are very unhappy about the situation.

"It's a danger to children, it's a danger to all sorts of people, and we have definitely had more rats in the area because of it, so I think it's very shocking." Kirkpatrick said.

Talking about the area becoming a fly-tipping hotspot, Birmingham City Council said: "We are continuing to try to identify the fly-tippers responsible and are committed to prosecuting fly-tippers whenever possible. We encourage residents to provide reports and evidence for us to do so."

Environmental crime lawyer, Dr Anna Willetts, has the following advice:

• If you find fly-tipping, the best course of action is to report it to the local authority.

• There is a distinction between fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping

• Fly-tipping is less than a tipper load, around 20 tonnes, anything bigger than that is an illegal waste dump

• The local authority is responsible for fly-tipping, anything bigger than 20 tonnes, is the environment agency

• Report as soon as you can, then the authority can take action

• Prevention is better than cure, get onto it as soon as possible.

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