A pensioner believes fly-tipping has led to rats invading her home, with one even biting her while she slept.<\/p>\n
Ann Roche, 74, and husband Barry, 78, have been complaining about the mountain of rubbish dumped in an alley at the back of their house in Gillingham for years.<\/p>\n
Piles of dumped rubbish in the alley at the back of Ann Roche’s home<\/p>\n
They say that whenever it is cleared by council contractors, the very next day the fly-tippers return.<\/p>\n
The latest load included a pile of black bin liners loaded with food and garden refuse, household waste and old furniture.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s got so bad lately that parents using it as a shortcut on the school run can\u2019t get through the alley between Chaucer Road and Cowper Road.<\/p>\n
The couple, who have lived in the family home where they raised their two daughters for 50 years, are now calling for it to be shut.<\/p>\n
Mum-of-two Ann recalls how last year she spotted a rat in her kitchen and then heard it crawling up the pipes to the first floor.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cMy husband said we\u2019ve got mice, but I spotted one and knew immediately it was a rat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI woke up in bed to find blood everywhere – one had bitten my thumb.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had to go to Medway hospital in the middle of the night to get a tetanus jab.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were told by the council we\u2019d have to wait six weeks for them to come out to sort it so we went out and spent \u00a3100 on traps.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast year we caught three. I\u2019m still finding it difficult to sleep at night.\u201d<\/p>\n
A rat bit pensioner Ann Roche as she slept<\/p>\n
Ann continued: \u201cWe have fond memories of living here so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe shouldn\u2019t have to be living like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daughter Sarah Roche, who lives with her fiance Lawrence Soot a few doors away, added her disgust at the rubbish piled up in the neighbourhood.<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old mobile hairdresser said: \u201cEverywhere you look there\u2019s an eyesore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fire hazard.<\/p>\n
Neighbour Lawrence Soot is disgusted with the eyesore on his doorstep
Daughter Sarah Roche says people have ‘no respect’ for the community<\/p>\n
\u201cNobody seems to show any respect for where they live anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
A Medway Council spokesman said: \u201cWe take all fly-tipping in Medway seriously and encourage residents to report whenever they see it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will take appropriate enforcement action, including prosecution, when evidence is available.<\/p>\n
\u201cResidents are encouraged to report fly-tipping to us through the council website – Medway.gov.uk\/FlyTipping<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can also report incidents as \u2019Known\u2019 if they have seen\/are aware of who may have committed the offence.\u201d<\/p>\n