Bradford garden filled with rubble for ten years

Two Bradford families are pleading for the council to take action over their neighbour's garden, which has been filled with rubble for more than ten years.

Anthony Sibbons' front and back gardens are piled high with building rubble, stones, timber and broken machinery.

Two years ago, he was issued with a notice from Bradford council ordering him to clear it up, but his neighbours say that nothing has been done - despite the fact that the council introduced a zero-tolerance policy on messy gardens a year ago.

"It has been getting worse over the past 10 years since the householder, Anthony Sibbons, retired," next-door neighbour Aidan Bulland tells the Telegraph and Argus.

"There's enough wood stacked up to run Drax Power Station. It is an eyesore front and back."

Meanwhile, Robert Tessyman, who has lived at the other side of the property for 49 years said the mess has made both him and his wife ill. "The authorities have let us down," he says.

The council says it's doing what it can, but that it's not sure what its options are.

"Neighbourhood Services will be liaising with other council services to discuss what options are available to resolve this case," a council spokesman tells the Mail, adding that the neighbours will be kept informed of any developments.

Rubbish piled up in a neighbour's garden is one of the biggest bugbears for householders. In 2013, there were 93,579 complaints made to local councils over the issue, making it the third most prevalent neighbourhood problem after noise and dilapidated property.

And plenty of other councils have managed to take action. It's easier for them to do so where the rubbish is of a type that might attract rats, such as rotting food, as Environmental Health can take action.

However, earlier this year, a north London woman was successfully prosecuted for filling her garden with building materials and rubble, after failing to comply with a community protection notice ordering her to clear it up. She was ordered to pay £1,123.50 by Willesden Magistrates' Court.

And last November, Gloucester man Adrian Woodyatt was actually ordered to sell his house to cover the cost of clearing his bramble-filled gardens, along with the fines he'd already incurred.