Litter has been left strewn across pavements after ravenous seagulls dragged it around a town.

Friends of Cliftonville Coastline (FOCC) have hit-out at Thanet District Council for not providing bins large enough to cope with the scale of rubbish.

They say the situation is "worse than ever" and have said residents are "at their wits' end".

Pictures show litter, including nappies and food waste, which have been dragged across the pavements by hungry seagulls searching for scraps in Athelstan Road and Northdown Road.

It has long been a source of frustration for locals who have complained about nappies, dog poo and rotting food mounting in the area.

Cliftonville residents say the roads are frequent flytipping hotspots, as well as Ethelbert Road, Edgar Road and Cornwall Gardens.

It comes after KentOnline reported last year about concerns daily overflowing communal bins were enticing seagulls and risk spreading coronavirus.

We then reported on shocking footage taken on Boxing Day by Friends of Cliftonville Coastline which shows the streets around Athelstan and Ethelbert Road in Cliftonville piled up with black bags, litter and even unwanted furniture.

Although street teams came to clean up the rubbish in the following two days, residents living in the area say they have had to deal with mess littering the streets for years.

A spokesperson for FOCC said: "Both councillors and officers at Thanet District Council have promised to tackle the rubbish problem in Cliftonville, but it is now completely out of control.

"FOCC launched the #cleanupcliftonville campaign in February 2020.

"In response, Thanet District Council promised to hire a squadron of new street cleaners to tackle the endemic litter problem. But sadly, the situation has got worse than ever.

"Many bins in Cliftonville are completely inadequate for the volume of rubbish dumped - much of it from flytippers who travel into the area, or from tenants whose landlords have failed to supply them with bins.

"Businesses also use these communal bins. Without lids the bin bags are subject to seagull attacks, so that nappies, food waste and worse is dragged across the pavements."

They said the council "urgently needs to clean up Cliftonville".

A Thanet District Council spokesperson said: "The council continues to dedicate significant resources to support waste and cleansing in Cliftonville, more so than any other part of the district.

"There are teams deployed in Cliftonville daily to sweep all major footfall areas, to empty the communal street bins and multiple collections take place each day for rubbish not presented for a scheduled collection.

"Following a review of household waste we are clear that capacity isn’t the issue, but absolutely understand there is an issue with misuse of the street communal bins and continue to work hard to tackle this. We have installed new signage on the bins, have issued letters to local households and enforcement action is being taken.

"We have CCTV in place and powers available to us through the selective licensing scheme to tackle specific problem properties.

"Implementation of a new Public Spaces Protection Order around litter and waste in the area is now also being considered. This would include a mix of targeted enforcement action against fly-tipping and graffiti and increased public engagement.

"We share the frustration of local residents and are working hard tackle this issue."

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