A housing provider has apologised after a man said that rubbish, including a discarded fridge-freezer and furniture, was left in the outdoor area of a property for months despite him begging for it to be cleared.
Ibrahim Mardenli told the ECHO the rubbish had been left in the communal back yard of the property on Lemon Close, Wavertree, since July 2021.
He says that the household appliances and furniture were removed from a flat on the ground floor when it was renovated last year, and they remained there until this week.
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When Ibrahim contacted the ECHO earlier this week, the rubbish remained in communal space of the property, which is run by social housing provider Riverside.
The ECHO contacted Riverside about the rubbish on Thursday (February 3) confirmed that staff were on site at Lemon Close on Friday (February 4) to clear it.
Riverside apologised for the delay in clearing the rubbish from Lemon Close.
Ibrahim, who has lived in the Riverside-managed property since 2014, had told the ECHO: “It’s been months - the same problem.
"When the guy who lived on the ground floor moved out, they refurbished his kitchen and bath, there was some stuff that they took out.
“We called them many times to remove it, but it's still here.
“There are lots of rats in the area, because of this and the rubbish.
“They never come and clean. I reported that.
“It’s been months of asking them to send someone to collect this rubbish, clean the area, so that I can put some poison and traps to get rid of the rats. It’s been too much.”
When contacted for comment by the ECHO, Peter Yoh, Riverside’s Head of Social Housing for Liverpool City Region, said: “We are sorry for the delay in clearing rubbish at Lemon Close. Unfortunately, we have faced some problems with removal services due to the pandemic and appreciate our customers’ patience during this time.
“As part of the tenancy agreement, it is the responsibility of our customers to remove their own rubbish, while it is ours for any vacant properties that we manage, so we can together keep the community clean and safe. For areas such as the alleyway at this property, this is the responsibility of the local council.
“Our housing officer and contractors were onsite today (Friday, February 4) and have removed all items including those in the alleyway and we will speak to the local council on our resident’s behalf to ensure this is monitored moving forward.
“We have not been previously made aware of the concerns around rats and unclean gutters, so will investigate this further. For tenanted properties, it is the responsibility of the resident to contact the local council’s Environmental Health department to report any issues of vermin in the area while for any vacant properties we manage, it is Riverside’s.
“This particular property at Lemon Close has only been empty just over a week, so we will be raising the issue with Environmental Health now that we’re aware.”
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