Residents living in a south-east London neighbourhood have accused the local council of effectively fly-tipping by failing to collect rubbish which they say is being torn apart by foxes.
Some Lee residents are in a long-standing dispute with Lewisham Council over rubbish regularly not being collected, after its street cleaners place the bags on the street.
They say putting the bags on the street then failing to collect them is akin to fly-tipping, with issues first beginning in 2024 and continuing throughout 2025. They say the most recent incident happened in March 2026.
Residents claim they find items such as glass, dog poo and needles out on the streets as a result of foxes scavenging through the uncollected bin bags in search of food.
Matthew Richards claimed in some cases bags of rubbish are left on Woodyates Road “for days on end”, and residents are left to clean up the mess.
Mr Richards told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “It’s hypocritical of [the council] to be campaigning against fly-tipping, fining people, putting up posters, and so on when they’re [effectively] doing it themselves.
“They can’t plead ignorance because we’ve been pointing this out for a long time that it’s been happening and it’s not just a one-off.”
A spokesperson for Lewisham Council said they are aware of the issue and are responding to residents’ concerns. They added: “Our staff avoid placing bags on Woodyates Road where possible and ensure that bags are not left on the street for extended periods before being collected.
“On occasion, bags may still need to be temporarily placed in the area before collection. We ask for residents’ patience and understanding in these instances.”
The spokesperson added that they are continuing to monitor the situation on Woodyates Road closely, and are committed to working with residents.
However Mr Richards believes a “lack of leadership” and failure of management at Lewisham Council has prevented the problem from being resolved over the past few years.
Mr Richards said: “There was a period when it got better; we had a person from Lewisham Council who replied and agreed and said, ‘yeah it should not be happening, we agree it shouldn’t be happening – let us know if it happens again’, which we did.
“Then we had this message saying they had to do it for a little bit more during the leaf season and then it would stop, and they told us they’d been instructing their employees not to leave these bags of rubbish there any more.”
He added: “Then it started happening again this year after a gap of a few months when it had stopped – so I emailed them again and actually got an email bounce back from the person who presumably left the council.
“Now that it’s restarted the attitude seems to be clearly different and worse. They’re now saying they’re denying it’s fly-tipping and the message seems to be more sort of, ‘tough, you have to put up with it’ which we obviously don’t agree with. It sets a terrible precedent.”
According to residents, bags of rubbish are left in the area by street cleaners in the early morning and the in-house waste team is supposed to collect them on the same day, however residents say there are times they have been left there overnight.
David Ford, another local resident, said: “The street sweepers work their socks off, they’re really, really good. My wife and I know quite a lot of them by name and we always greet them and thank them. They’re dependent upon the people coming from the depot with their trucks and so on to collect it.”
Mr Richard says if the issue does not get resolved, residents are considering pursuing a private prosecution against the council.
According to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the number of fly-tipping incidents reported in Lewisham has dramatically increased over the past few years.
In 2024/25, Lewisham was the third worst hit London borough with 33,471 fly-tipping incidents reported. Camden saw 36,216 cases and Croydon was the worst hit London borough – and in the entire country – with 53,268 incidents reported.
Last year, Lewisham Council increased the maximum fine for fly-tipping from £400 to £1,000 as part of a major crackdown to try and tackle the issue.
The Lewisham Council spokesperson said Lee residents can contact them about any issues on their waste and recycling web page.
