Residents say an alleyway has become an impassable, rat-infested health hazard – and fear it will only get worse if no one stops flytippers dumping rubbish there.

Mother-of-one Courtney Moffat, 18, has been complaining since July about the state of the passageway behind her and her neighbours’ houses in Stanbrook Road, Gravesend, but says no one has so far been prepared to help.

“It’s been ridiculous,” she said. “It’s been going on for years and nothing’s being done about it.

“There was a fire in my neighbour’s house last Tuesday and the elderly lady that lives there was in the garden – she couldn’t get through the house so she had to try to go through the back alley, but she ended up falling in the stinging nettles. They’re at least five feet high.

“There’s four mattresses there and other household rubbish, electrical appliances, lawn mowers, tables and chairs. You name it, it’s out there.”

Since calling Gravesham council she’s been advised to contact various departments including environmental health teams and waste management teams, but all her efforts have come to nothing.

Miss Moffat added: “I’ve heard different things about whether it’s council land or private, but it’s an alley and it’s supposed to provide access. I haven’t got thousands of pounds to go to court and then find out it’s private and down to us. There are garages there but you can’t use them. I’ve never seen anyone use them.

“My mum said the council used to come out to clear outside but they stopped coming.

“My next door neighbour has a gate at the bottom leading to the alley but she can’t open it.”

She said her mum Tracy had attempted to confront the fly-tippers but that too had proved futile. There are three people we see who chuck rubbish,” she said. “My mum said to them ‘there’s a recycling centre near Sainsbury’s, please use it’ but they just looked at her and carried on.”

A Gravesham council spokesman said: “We have been in contact with Courtney and she has been made aware that the alleyway is not owned or maintained by the council. The maintenance of some of the alleys in Gravesham, including this one, falls to the homeowners who have access rights.

“Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen and they become overgrown and can attract dumping or illegal behaviour.

“We are willing to help and work with residents who want to tidy their alleys as a community and will arrange for rubbish
and cuttings that have been removed from the alleys to be collected.

“We take flytipping very seriously and we would urge anyone who witnesses any activity of this kind to report it to us using our website www.gravesham.gov.uk”