'THOUGHTLESS' householders are taking advantage of the coronavirus crisis to dump rubbish in back alleys.

Cllr Roy Davies said incidents of fly-tipping behind homes in Darwen has increased since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.

The Darwen East Liberal Democrat said: “This is appalling but I’ll bet it’s everywhere in the borough.”

He has taken photographs of fly-tipped rubbish in Newton Street, Perry Street and Garnett Street in his ward in the hope they can be used as evidence.

Cllr Jim Smith, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s environment boss, branded the fly-tipping ‘simply disgusting’.

He said the council would seek to prosecute the culprits at some point in the future.

Cllr Davies said: “We are in a situation where we are advised to isolate but, in some areas, they are taking advantage and simply fly tipping and not making full use of the bins.

“People are simply throwing bags and furniture into the back alleys and saying nothing to do with me.

“This is appalling. We need to be cleaner and more hygienic but here we have thoughtless residents taking advantage of the coronavirus pandemic and dumping rubbish in back alleys while the borough council staff are busy with other issues to do with the Covid-19 outbreak.

“We are in isolation because of dirty habits, this must be a warning to all of us that we cannot keep doing this and must work together for the sake of future generations and the planet. We must help the council and take responsibility for our actions or we will be in isolation for a much longer time.

“Newton Street and Perry Street were cleaned by myself over the last six weeks with a lot of help from the council, but here we are again a short time later with dumping and fly-tipping all through the back streets.”

Cllr Smith said: “This type of fly-tipping during the coronvirus crisis is disgusting. Council staff are doing their best to keep the streets clean but taking advantage of how busy they are like this is simply disgusting.

“Many residents are taking greater care with their rubbish but some are clearly not doing so.

“Where we have evidence, we will prosecute those responsible after this crisis is over.

“We are restricted in what we can do now. I appeal to people to keep their back alleys clean.”