Fed-up business owners say bulky items, including used mattresses and bedframes, are constantly being discarded outside their shops.
Litter pickers are calling for Norwich City Council to combat the crisis by installing more CCTV, as people have started to dump massive items behind parts of the historic city walls.
Magdalen Street (Image: Submitted)
Folk want the authority to introduce free collection of big items from homes to help clamp down on the problem.
‘ITS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION’
The community litter picking group, Project NR (No Rubbish), has spent the last two years desperately trying to fix the city-wide problem.
They have seen a dramatic increase in fly-tipping near the remaining fragments of the city walls, Norwich’s medieval defences, which date back to the 14th century.
Rubbish behind the city walls (Image: A litter picker from Project NR)
Dani Cabral, who set up the group, said: “There has been no improvement in recent weeks.
“It’s an emergency situation.
“I regularly litter-pick around Silver Road and Barrack Street in NR3.
Dani Cabral (Image: Submitted)
Fly tipping in NR3 (Image: Submitted)
“Part of the city walls are there and I think because it’s quite hidden, people just dump rubbish.
“In the last two years, I have seen mattresses, clothes, chairs, sleeping bags, fridges, printers, used needles and rubbish.
“I don’t think the council makes it easy for people to get rid of rubbish, especially bulky items.”
It is understood that large piles of waste, including a sofa, have been regularly turning up in Finklegate, a street in NR1.
A sofa dumped in Finklegate (Image: Submitted)
‘DUMP SLOTS HAVE MADE IT WORSE’
Daniel Wicks, the retail area manager for Pact Animal Sanctuary, says people have used his store in Hethersett as a tip for the last 10 years.
Norfolk County Council introduced a new booking system as a cost-cutting measure at Norfolk dumps at the end of 2024, forcing people to book a slot to drop off rubbish.
But Mr Wicks claims “fly tipping has worsened” for charity shops since the council introduced the booking system at the dump.
He said: “As soon as the shop shuts stuff turns up overnight.
“It’s frustrating, we have to pay to get rid of the stuff.
“The managers had to move a dirty mattress and double bed frame at our Hethersett store from the front to the back of the shop a couple of months ago.
The mattress fly tipped at the site (Image: Submitted)
The bed frame fly tipped at the site (Image: Submitted)
“Hethersett is vulnerable to it because a section of the shop is hidden from the main road.”
Norwich City Council can pick up fridges, freezers and furniture, starting at £24.50 for one item.
They do not collect plastic bags of rubbish, DIY waste or dangerous items.
Ms Cabral said: “It’s expensive to have bulky items collected and to get to a recycling centre can be difficult for some people who don’t have a car.
The Norwich South Recycling Centre at Harford Bridge (Image: Mike Page)
“They need to introduce schemes in Norwich, such as free collection once a year for bulkier items.
“There should also be more security cameras around the city.”
THE COUNCIL’S RESPONSE
A spokesman for Norwich City Council said: “Fly-tipping is a blight on our city, and we understand the frustration residents feel when it repeatedly affects their neighbourhoods.
“We are tackling this issue through the targeted use of CCTV at known hotspots, thorough investigation of all reports and enforcement action where evidence allows.
“Anyone who witnesses fly-tipping is urged to report it through our website with any available evidence.
“Please check that anyone removing waste on your behalf is a registered waste carrier, as responsibility for waste remains with the person who produces it, if it is fly-tipped.”