Cyrlene Braithwaite and Penny Smith at Naish Court

STACKS of fly-tipped rubbish on a Barnsbury estate have left residents demanding action.

They watched in hororr as a bin at Naish Court in Pembroke Avenue went up in flames and warned that the dumped mess is a a safety risk.

The estate is run by The Guinness Partnership housing association.

“I remember hearing a loud bang which woke everybody up. Everyone came out to look at it because it was loud and it was early hours,” said Penny Smith, who has lived in Pembroke Avenue for nine years.

“When it comes to fly-tipping, Guinness don’t do much. It’s been going on for years. All they do is put signs up.”

The bin on fire

Cyrlene Braithwaite, another resident concerned with the dumping, said: “Fly-tipping is a criminal offence so really, by law, they should take action.

“Not only that, but you’re forcing us to pay the cost of having this rubbish removed through our service charge. You can’t ignore a problem and then ask us to pay when people are struggling.”

The London Fire Brigade told the Tribune that the cause of the bin fire is undetermined.

But residents say they’re fearful that if another fire was to occur, the flytipping would only help it spread and they now want CCTV camera installed to catch the dumpers.

Fly-tipped items pile up in Pembroke Avenue

“I remember feeling scared when I saw the fire because I was worried about the gas meters being so close to the fire,” said Ms Braithwaite, who added that a lot of wood is now left abandoned beside the gas meters.

Whole bathroom sets, wardrobes, and a fridge freezer are just some of the things that have been found outside the blocks along the road.

A spokesperson from The Guinness Partnership said: “We have been experiencing an issue with bulk waste and fly-tipping which we have been trying to contain by making regular trips to the estate to remove items, supplementing the normal service provided by the local authority.

“We formally consulted residents a few years ago about whether they wanted us to install CCTV and the majority view was that they did not. We can of course consult residents on this again.Where items are fly-tipped and we have details of the perpetrator, we do formally report this and the local authority will take action where there is sufficient evidence, and they are therefore able to exercise their statutory powers.”