A FED-UP business boss says he has been battling for more than a year to rid a Bradford street of a fly-tipping problem.

Jazz Gill, who runs a weddings and events suite on the edge of Bradford city centre, said the stream of mattresses, cupboards, fridges, building rubble and food waste was detrimental to his venue.

Mr Gill said the problem started soon after he moved into the building on Ventnor Street, off Leeds Road, on December 24, 2015. He said Bradford Council has refused to sort the problem out, claiming the authority said the street was not its problem as it was an unadopted road.

“We have been here 12 months,” said Mr Gill. “It has been continuous across that time.

“When we first moved in, the Council moved it and said it was a goodwill gesture. But that was it. It is getting ridiculous and it is a mess.”

Mr Gill said he had paid at least £900 over the year to have the fly-tipping moved by private contractors. He also moved some himself once when he had a van.

“I have rang the Council numerous times,” he said. “I am getting a bit fed up of it. They say it is an unadopted road. But it has a road name and a street sign. It is fully street-signed up. It is getting a bit annoying.”

Mr Gill added that the problem was affecting his business at The Fairmont, and said: “People are coming to having a look around the business and possibly book the venue. We take them around the back because we keep the front entrance closed when we are not open. When we take them round to the back door there are mattresses, fridges, building material and food waste. It doesn’t look good at all.

“People pay between £1,500 and £2,000 for the venue here and they are asking if all this rubbish will be in the background of their photographs when they are getting out of their car. We are having to pay £200 to £250 a time to get rid of it.

“It is having a major impact on my business. We have lost bookings because people say they really like the venue, but they

are put off by the rubbish outside.We are trying to make something positive and amazing for the local community, but it is the local community doing this.”

Mr Gill said he also caught two people fly-tipping and sent pictures of their vans to the Council, but had heard nothing back.

A Bradford Council spokesman, said: “As this is an unadopted road the responsibility for clearing up fly-tipping is with the owners of the various businesses on the street. They could apply for a road closure order and then for planning permission to put up a fence or gate. We investigate all reports of fly-tipping and have had several successful prosecutions recently. We have investigated this case and there wasn’t enough evidence to bring it to prosecution.”

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