A BASINGSTOKE man said he is disappointed after the Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council failed to take any action for two years since he first complained about a continuing fly-tipping problem near his residence.

The man, who wants to remain anonymous because of fear of his safety, said a fly-tipper has been dumping items including scrap metal in a car park on Tewksbury Avenue in Basingstoke near his home.

The Tewksbury Avenue resident said he has been complaining about the issue to the council for the past two years, but he is getting “very lacklustre response from the council”.

“I find it highly hypocritical that the council claims they do anything they can to prosecute the fly-tippers, yet I have evidence this hasn’t been actioned in two years,” he said.

“It happens at the top of Tewksbury Avenue in the carpark before the big field. One person has been dumping stuff there for the last two years and I've been trying to talk to the council.

“The council has been mostly ignoring my calls and emails until January this year. At that point, they said, ‘well, you've only reported it in January’, when that's clearly not the case. It's been much longer.”

The complainant said he has also provided photos and videos that clearly show the face and the vehicle registration number of the offender, but the council is yet to take an official statement from him.

“It's very lacklustre responses,” he said.

“They just keep saying you should see improvement soon. Yes, there has been some improvements, but not major. But, my question is, why should it last two years before they started to do anything about it, while they're always campaigning to say they deal with fly-tipping? This is a clear case where they haven't.

“They said they were investigating it and they had been to the place. But that's two years after it's been reported. They said my statement would make up part of their investigation, but they haven't actually officially taken my statement yet, even though I've asked them to on countless occasions.

“It boggles my mind. Because if you're trying to build a case, witness statements is a key part of it. So why they refuse to do that? I have absolutely no idea!”

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council’s Cabinet Member for Resident Services Cllr Rebecca Bean said: “The council received a complaint about fly-tipping at Tewkesbury Close in January 2022. This is a complex investigation which is still in progress and the matter is being treated as a priority. Due to the ongoing criminal investigation we are unable to provide any further information.”

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