‘DIGUSTING’ mess left discarded in a garden has prompted fresh calls from the council to report fly tippers.

A resident who has lived in Marston ‘all of his life’ reported the dumped pile of mattresses on Taverner Place five times to Oxford City Council.

He said the area was ‘encouraging rats and mice’ and was making his views of the road a state.

Oxford Mail:

Peter Stimpson said: “I’ve lived in Marston all my life and never seen much fly topping, recently it has increased, I look out of my bedroom and living room windows and what do I see…two fly tips in Taverner Place.

“These have been reported at least five times by me and a couple more of my neighbours – it’s been there a long time.

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“This could encourage the vermin to Taverner Place, we’ve already had a fox a few times.

“This could also encourage rats and mice who make their nests in the rubbish.”

Oxford Mail:

Marston councillor Mick Haines also said the area that fly tippers can cause havoc in the area.

He said he heard the fox had ripped rubbish bags across the road but is now also worried about the site being used as a home for rats.

He added: “I think it is just disgusting.

“Fly tipping really ruins the area. It’s just a mess.

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“There used to be a bit of fly tipping near the recreation ground but it just looks gross.

“If you want to get rid of a lot of rubbish – like four mattresses – then a skip would solve the problem but they are very dear.

“I think it should all be cleared up as soon as possible.”

Oxford City Council said it was ‘committed’ to clearing up dumped rubbish and called for residents to keep an eye out for the criminals.

It said: “Oxford City Council and ODS are committed to clearing fly tipping as soon as possible.

"We are aware of this report and the tip is scheduled to be cleared imminently.

Oxford Mail:

"We enforce the law on fly tipping on public land but to do this we need evidence that will stand up in court, that identifies who carried out the flytipping or the owner of the waste that has been dumped.

"So that we can investigate further, we therefore also ask the public, where possible, to record the time and date of any incident as well as descriptions of any individuals and vehicles involved."

Fly tipping is a criminal offence and you can be prosecuted.

Courts have various powers if somebody is caught fly tipping and criminals are warned that they could be fined up to £50,000.

To report incidents go to the Report Flytipping Page on the council's website at Oxford.gov.uk