A FATHER has called for action after repeatedly walking through an “obstacle course of glass and rubbish” in a supermarket car park with his young children.
Kris Smith told the Comet that there has been a flytipping problem at Sainsbury’s Poplars store in Magpie Crescent, Stevenage, since Christmas but said nothing is being done to solve the issue.
Mr Smith, who lives in nearby Shearwater Close and has a two-year-old daughter Ellie and a four-month-old son Aidan, said he has seen desks, tables and lamps dumped next to the recycling point at the edge of the car park, with a car tyre and a child car seat among the items left there this week.
The rubbish was removed by Stevenage Borough Council yesterday (Wednesday) on behalf of Sainsbury’s for a ‘small fee’, one day after the Comet raised the issue.
“Having a two-year-old and a baby with a push chair, we walk through this obstacle course of glass and rubbish on a daily basis,” said Mr Smith, who has to walk past the recycling point to get to the supermarket.
“My daughter has fallen and cut her knee there but it could’ve been quite serious if there had been huge shards of glass like there has been in the past. I’ve had words with Sainsbury’s on a number of occasions but nothing to solve the problem has been done. It’s because it’s not monitored and people are just dumping everything there.
“They’ve got to find a solution to the situation by putting in cameras or moving the bins so it stops happening as it’s been an ongoing issue for some time. I mean, how hard is it to install a camera?
“It’s also a fire risk and I know the bins have been set on fire in the past. Having such a dump of a car park means people just think that it’s acceptable to leave rubbish and think someone will take it away.”
A spokesman for Sainsbury’s said: “We share the frustration of residents and wish people would take their rubbish to the council refuse area. Our security team does keep an eye on the area and we are regularly in touch with Stevenage Borough Council about this and have contacted them again this week asking them to come down and clear the area.”
Residents can report incidents of flytipping – which offenders are liable to a fine of up to £50,000, one-year imprisonment and a criminal record – to Stevenage Borough Council via www.stevenage.gov.uk or by calling 01438 242242.
The council also offers a large item collection service for household waste which need to be removed. Call 01438 242323 for more information.
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