A BROADGREEN councillor claims the borough council has not done enough to tackle fly-tipping in the area for 15 years.

When Bob Wright saw the Adver's story of neighbours complaining about the mess regularly dumped on alleys and pavements, he had a feeling of deja-vu.

Mr Wright often highlighted the same problem during his long tenure as ward councillor but argued that, apart from a brief period where the parish took over cleaning responsibilities, there has been “no significant improvement.”

He added: "Ultimately the Broadgreen area needs to be treated differently to other areas due to the scale of the problem. The waste strategy works for those with cars and vans, but for others it is just an expensive pick-up service which they avoid.

“For years, we have been told the council is going down the warning and educational route but where has that got us?

"I believe it is lip service rather than the real public service the problem needs based on prevention and apprehension.

“There appears to be no strategy, no resources and no fines. How are residents going to start to believe this issue can be resolved?”

He noted that individual spots like the corner of Haydon Street, where CCTV was installed, have improved and acknowledged that resources are an issue for the local authority in tackling this ongoing unpleasantness.

But he added that the area has been “badly let down” by the failure to catch the messy culprits. Mr Wright retired on Thursday.

A Swindon Borough Council spokesperson said: “We carry out regular patrols within the Broadgreen area and work hard to keep it clean for residents.

"We are also proactive in working with commercial properties to ensure they are disposing of their waste correctly.

"South Swindon Parish Council and the borough council’s waste enforcement team work closely together in an attempt to keep the area clean and identify offenders wherever possible.

“Having gone through a successful recruiting process, we will have additional enforcement officers in the 'enviro-crime' team which will support us with bringing the culprits to justice.

“So far this year we have issued 26 fixed penalty notices for fly tipping offences in Swindon and have 10 cases currently in progress.

“We are looking at how we can use technology to better support us in identifying individuals who carry out fly tipping to ensure there is a consequence for their actions.

“But we also need the public’s help. If you see any fly tipping, please let us know by reporting it via the council’s website at www.swindon.gov.uk/flytipping

"Or, if you have no online access, please ring 01793 445500.”

The Adver story Mr Wright saw involved Laura Patterson sharing photographs on Facebook of flytipped waste near her home which including ceramic sinks, shopping trolleys piled high with cardboard and plastic, full bags of rubbish and a teddy bear.

A few days after the parish council cleared the alleyway, she found more building materials ditched in the exact same spot.