Furious Smethwick residents say dirty nappies being thrown into tree - sparking rat and mouse invasion

Dirty nappies hurled from a block of flats into a tree have sparked a rat and mouse invasion, furious residents claim.

Locals started noticing the used nappies dangling from the branches outside a block of flats in Smethwick last month. They claim at least one resident is lobbing them off the balconies of Cygnet Court. Others have reported seeing an increase of rats and mice crawling over the foul items as they fall to the ground.

Resident Ian Johnson, 55, said: “It’s disgusting. Where is the common sense? You don’t like walking by the trees because there are quite a few rats about and they all carry loads of diseases. No one is doing anything about it.”

Another local said: “A few weeks ago we started seeing nappies stuck in the tree. It appears some scumbags have been throwing them off a balcony in the flats. They either land in the tree or on the path. It’s just disgusting. Who does that?

“There’s definitely been more rats in the area since this has been going on. I’ve seen them climbing up the trees to get at the nappies. It’s not on. It’s bad enough flytippers dumping rubbish on the street but now soiled nappies are being chucked in trees as well. It’s grim.”

Mum-of-two Michelle Riley, 40, said she’s scared to let her two young daughters out alone.

She said: “I don’t want my kids walking past there if there are foul nappies dropping from the trees. No one is doing a thing to stop whoever it is from doing this. I just worry it’ll attract more flytipping and gross behaviour.”

Residents say they see a freshly thrown nappy every few days but catching the culprit is proving difficult. The flats are run by Midland Heart Housing who also charge residents £177 a month for ground rent and maintenance.

A spokesperson for Midland Heart said: "As soon as this issue was reported to us, we instructed our environmental contractor to attend the site and remove the waste. Following further reports, we have arranged for the area to be cleared again as this appears to be a recurring problem.

"Keeping our neighbourhoods clean and well-maintained is important to us and to our tenants, which is why we take reports like this seriously and act quickly when concerns are raised.

"We have no evidence to suggest that Midland Heart tenants are responsible for this fly-tipping. However, we have reminded tenants of their responsibilities around waste disposal and shared information on the correct ways to dispose of household waste."