PILES of paper and clothing overflowing from unemptied recycling bins in a town centre car park could be an arson attack waiting to happen, it is feared.
Furniture, including sofa cushions, have also been dumped by the bank of bins in Spalding’s Sainsbury’s car park, leading to concerns that the spot would make “a palace” for homeless people looking for a comfortable hidey-hole.
The issue was brought to the attention of “king of rubbish” South Holland district councillor Roger Gambba-Jones, by clean-up campaigner Sandra White over the weekend.
She feared the spot had become home to one or more homeless people.
Coun Gambba-Jones, who recently claimed a victory in a long-running battle with Network Rail to get the town’s Steppingstone Bridge cleaned up, is a man on a mission to tackle other district grot spots.
He said: “Unfortunately this is on privately owned land so I will now have to write to Sainsbury’s to see if they are willing to get the area cleaned up.
“It seems as though the bins are overflowing, which suggests the contractor has failed to do its job of emptying them.
“It’s pretty dire behind there with piles of paper, clothing and cushions.
“There’s no suggestion anyone is living behind there at the moment but it could certainly attract someone.
“Although it’s pretty grim because of the stuff piled up between and behind the bins it would probably be a palace for someone more used to sleeping in the mud on the riverbank or in some of these other places homeless people spend the night.
“I might ask the council’s environmental health team to go and take a look to make sure the area isn’t attracting vermin, as we could use that as a stick to beat Sainsbury’s with if necessary, but it mainly seems to be dry materials.
“Because it is mostly paper and clothing, my main worry would be that it would be the perfect place to start a fire and that could put lives in danger.”