Contractors sent to help him clear up the mess emptied the wrong building
A granddad who went to his garage to fetch his mobility scooter found three tonnes of rubish had been dumped inside. Martyn de Young has had a garage in Raven Close, Larkfield, for the past 30 years without any problems, but on Bank Holiday Monday, he found it full of rubbish.
The 67-year-old had gone to retrieve a mobility scooter from inside, but as he struggled to open the door, he discovered it had been filled with a sofa, builders’ rubbish, laminate flooring and some Wellington boots. A few doors down, a vacant garage had also been filled with fly-tipping.
When Martyn reported it to Clarion Housing, who own the garage, someone was contracted to clear it out for him. Unfortunately, the contractors were sent a picture of the nearby garage instead of his, and when Martyn arrived, he found they had cleared a tonne of rubbish from the wrong garage.
As a result, they had to put it all back before starting on Martyn’s. Currently, one tonne of rubbish has been removed but the waste removal team estimates there are several more tonnes which are yet to be cleared. The retired IT consultant said: “At first I thought I’d opened the wrong garage door, but it was definitely my garage.
“It was a bit of a shock, to be honest. I’ve not had any trouble up until now. It’s the first time I’ve heard about this, but several neighbours have said to me that it’s been going on for several months and that most of these garages, although many are vacant, have been filled up as well.”
Contents in both fly-tipped garages include plaster, wood, glass, a concrete water feature, tins of paint, flat-pack furniture and a door. The dad-of-two says many residents put solid locks on their garage doors and he will be doing the same.
“It is a crime, and I did report it to the police online, but there isn’t a category for people breaking into your garage and filling it up,” Martyn said. Despite the mishap with the contractors clearing the wrong garage initially, the grandfather says Clarion Housing have been “quite helpful” thus far.
He added: “I’d like to be able to get in within a week or so and find out whether my mobility scooter is still in there.”
The police are urging anyone with information to contact them on 01622 604100, quoting reference 46/148766/25. It is presumed the fly-tippers had deposited the rubbish in the garage between July 1 and August 25, as Martyn had not been in the garage for around six to eight weeks.
He is now waiting to hear from Clarion Housing to see when clearing will resume. A Clarion spokesperson said: “We are very sorry that Mr de Young suffered this break-in and will be taking the appropriate action against the individual responsible in line with our tenancy policies and procedures.
“We have removed the fly-tipped waste and our Neighbourhood Response Officer will be visiting today (September 4) to ensure collection of any further rubbish is booked with our contractor.
“The safety and security of our residents and their homes is our top priority and we will be arranging for new locks to be installed as well as entering into consultation with our residents regarding installing CCTV in this area to discourage future behaviour of this kind.”