Residents have spoke of their anger at living on a 'disgusting' street where a 7ft mountain of rubbish dumped in an overflowing skip has led to an invasion of rats.
Homeowners on Sladefield Road in Birmingham, say their lives are made 'hell' by the festering piles of trash left along their residential street.
They say the problem has become so bad, the entire road now stinks and groups of rats are plaguing the area and can regularly be seen scurrying along the pavements.
Parents are refusing to let their children play outdoors due to the health hazard which has also left people too embarrassed to invite people around.
Locals say piles of rubbish are dumped all along the road but the worst problems have been caused by a skip abandoned just yards from a primary school.
Since being left on the street a month ago, it has become a magnet for fly-tipped waste before it was eventually removed by the council on Wednesday.
Shocking photos show how the stomach-churning pile grew to around 7ft (2.1m) tall and included household and building waste as well as a pair of ladders.
Ironically, the skip was placed on double yellow lines next to a wrongly-spelled 'No Dumping' sign declaring: "No Rubbish Damp Here".
Residents say their 'lawless' street is also plagued by antisocial behaviour and is facing its worst problems in 40 years due to lack of policing.
Shop owner Abrar Khan said he had tried to find the company responsible for dumping the skip outside his store after it began affecting his trade.
Speaking before the skip was collected, dad-of-four Abrar, 36, said: "I tried to find the skip company but couldn't find it.
"There's a lot of rubbish on the top, it's got very bad. It's been there one month now.
"You can see people walking by and chucking their rubbish in, if there's no bin nearby.
"The smell is bad. It's because of the food in there. People walk by and put their food in. The other day I saw a rat, it was near the rubbish. It'll be going for the food.
"A lot of people have contacted the council but they haven't done anything.
"It's in front of my door. Customers have to come and they point at it and think that I put it there. They say you should do something, but what can I do?"
Mohammed Azkar has lived in the area for the last 40 years and says the current problems on the road are the worst he has known.
Mohammed, 49, said: "I have just watched it deteriorate for the last 40 years.
"It's got quite bad, in terms of antisocial behaviour and the rubbish.
"It's lawless on the roads. It's changed so much since I was a child. There's not much police here.
"There's never been any bins allocated to the shops on Washwood Heath road and the tenants are dumping their rubbish on Sladefield Road, we get mountains of rubbish on the road now.
"They dump it on the road which is unsightly. There's a school there too.
"We've now acquired a skip, it's been left there on double yellow lines. It's an eye sore and a health risk.
"I came here when it was nice and green, now there's overpopulation and parking problems.
Shah Nawaz, 56, a business owner on Washwood Heath road, said the rubbish started when people ignored or didn't understand the bin collection days.
The dad-of-five said: "It started off a few years ago. People are ignoring the bin collection days or they don't understand it.
"The rubbish is just everywhere, it's not even the skip. There's rats and the council have had to put poison down.
"The council tried to claim it was commercial rubbish.
"You come here and it feels like you come into a different world. I've seen so many rats so many times, they go into small houses."
Councillor Majid Mahmood, Birmingham City Council cabinet member for environment, said: "Following complaints from local people we took action to remove the skip on Sladefield Road today.
"Clean streets are a top priority in this city - so we are taking a zero tolerance approach when skips are plonked on our streets without the right permissions or any signage that enables us to contact the owner.
"In this case, the skip had hazardous items and was attracting rodents.
"We carried out extensive enquires with residents and businesses - but nobody knew who had put it there.
"This should act as a clear warning to anyone thinking of doing the same.
"We will take action and if we do find out who you are, we will seek to recover costs or take any appropriate legal action."
