A RADCLIFFE man has pleaded with the council to remove an unsightly "50-ft long" shipping container and piles of rubbish from a garden adjacent to his property.

Robert Crossley, 70, who lives on Ainsworth Street, has been in contact with the council over the giant container which first appeared on Alma Street in July 2019.

The container, which Robert estimates is 50ft long and 12ft high, appeared after the previous owner sold the land.

The large, metal object has sat in view of his house ever since.

Robert says he was told the container would remain only for a "short period" while building work took place but has since seen the land fill up with rubbish, such as fridges, chairs, and other waste.

Robert said: “The wagon came with the crane and dumped it there, and it’s been there ever since.

“It must be 50ft by 12ft high.

"You come out of your door and that’s what you're faced with, its only 15ft away from my back gate.

“When you come to sell your house, that’s the first thing anybody’s going to see, and it’s been getting more and more rubbish dumped next to it.”

A council spokesman the planning department are dealing with the problem and confirmed that the container “does not have a valid planning application to be there" and the local authority will be "serving a notice on the owner to have it removed".

The spokesman added that it may only act on environmental health concerns when a statutory nuisance is being caused by the waste.

This includes waste that poses a public health hazard such as vermin, flies or odour.

The council cannot deal with waste that is merely unsightly, such as rubble or broken household items, the spokesman said.

From April 2020 to March 2021, councils in England dealt with 1.13m fly-tipping incidents, most of which consisted of a "small van load" of rubbish.

Large fly-tipping incidents, considered to be of "tipper lorry load" size, increased by 16 per cent from the previous period, and cost local authorities £11.6m to remove.