Students turn neighbourhood into a 'dumping ground' by fly-tipping waste before summer holidays

Video shows mounds of rubbish and old sofas and laptops dumped in alleyways - some of the waste left behind by students. Speaking on camera, Nino Guglielmi, 83, who has owned a local hair salon in the district for 60 years, said the streets near his home became a ‘dumping ground’ every summer, when students leave their properties.

Fly-tipping students

The weekend closest to July 1 has become notorious for fly-tipping as it marks the point when most shared student house leases expire. And as they often only spend a year living in their properties, the occupants tend to ditch unwanted items before leaving. But OAPs living in Fallowfield, Manchester - where more than 50% of the population are students - said the mounds of rubbish had “ruined” the area and hit house prices.

Students throw everything and then leave

Staring at the refuse in one alleyway, just off Furness Road, he said: “The students have left this weekend, and they’ve thrown all the rubbish all over the place. It’s absolutely ridiculous. They’ve thrown divans, they’ve thrown settees, they’ve thrown duvets, they’ve thrown laptops – you name it. They’ve thrown everything and then they go away...It’s like a dumping ground.”

Nino, who moved to the Manchester suburb in the 1960s from Italy, said he had tried to tackle the waste with other residents as the problem worsened in recent years. He said: “The area has got worse. It used to be bad, but now it’s gone absolutely ridiculously bad.

Waste attracts rodents

They just dump it on the floor and they go. It makes me angry because now they’ve blocked my entrance at the back. I can’t even get my car inside my garage because they’ve blocked it with the bins.”

Nino said the waste attracted rodents, which were kept at bay by a pack of feral cats. And he felt the local authority was not doing enough to bring students to task who were responsible for the problem.

He added: “The council doesn’t care. We’ve got rats around here, mice. And we daren’t put down poison as we’ve got three or four wild cats. Luckily, they keep the rats and mice at bay."

Manchester City Council has been contacted for comment.