Fly-tipping students have enraged locals by dumping mattresses, fridges and even bongs in alleyways as they head home for summer.
Pictures show mounds of waste and overflowing bins in student cities Manchester and Leeds, showing microwaves, party hats, and broken fridges.
One photo shows a pile of toothbrushes, a broken birthday headband and a candle.
The weekend closest to July 1 is notorious for fly-tipping as it marks the point when most shared student house leases expire.
As they often only spend a year living in their properties, the occupants tend to ditch unwanted items before leaving.
Most students don’t have a car with them so carting their possessions to the local recycling points may feel like too much of a hassle.
But OAPs living in Fallowfield, Manchester – where over 50 per cent of the population are students – said the mounds of rubbish had ‘ruined’ the area and hit house prices.
One local claimed that the piles of waste have become so bad, he can’t even drive his car into his garage.
He said the waste has attracted rodents, which were in turn kept at bay by a pack of feral cats coming into the area.
Nino Gugliemi, 82, who has run a hair salon in Manchester for 60 years, stands in an alleyway owhere Manchester University students live and have dumped rubbish
A microwave dumped in an alleyway behind some student houses
Alleyways in Manchester filled with rubbish left by Manchester University students
A used bong discarded on the pavement by a student house
A dejected teddy bear clutching a heart reading ‘I love you Beary much’ was thrown away
A broken fridge left in an alleyway in Manchester by the bins a bag of soil
Packets of Cannabis flower found along the road by student housing in Manchester
Nino Guglielmi, 83, who has owned a local hair salon in the district for 60 years, said the streets near his home became a ‘dumping ground’ each year.
Staring at the refuse in one alleyway, just off Furness Road, he said: ‘The students have left this weekend, and they’ve thrown all the rubbish all over the place. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
‘They’ve thrown divans, they’ve thrown settees, they’ve thrown duvets, they’ve thrown laptops – you name it. They’ve thrown everything and then they go away.
‘It ruins the neighbourhood. Nobody wants to buy the properties around here if you want to sell them because it’s full of rubbish.
‘The property prices have gone down. Nobody wants to live around here anymore.
‘It’s like a dumping ground, Fallowfield.’
A folded divans bed base is seen fly-tipped in an alley by an overflowing bin
Bins are pictured which were so full that dozens of bags have piled on the floor next to them
Students have sparked fury from locals after leaving streets overflowing with fly-tipped waste
Alleyways in Manchester filled with rubbush left by student housing
Mattresses and divans bed bases are seen on top of mounds of rubbish
Nino, who moved to the Manchester suburb in the 1960s from Italy, said he had tried to tackle the waste with other residents as the problem worsened in recent years.
But he had struggled with heavy lifting after suffering two heart attacks and said other long-standing locals were now too frail to deal with the growing issue.
He said: ‘The area has got worse. It used to be bad, but now it’s gone absolutely ridiculously bad. One time we did do a bit of cleaning, voluntary work around here.
‘We’ve not done it lately because some people have died, and some are of an old age. But the students don’t do any cleaning up. They just dump it on the floor and they go.
And he felt the local authority was not doing enough to bring students to task who were responsible for the problem.
He added: ‘The council doesn’t care. We’ve got rats around here, mice.
Piles of toothbrushes, makeup and other waste is pictured on the street
A magpie looks for scraps on a heap of rubbish after students moved out of their houses
A lot of the waste being fly-tipped is clothing and bedding
Alleyways in Manchester filled with rubbish after students moved out
Furniture is seen discarded on the street outside of a house in Manchester
Students studying in Leeds moved out of their accommodation, leaving behind rubbish
Alleyways in Manchester filled with rubbish and bins are seen overflowing
‘And we daren’t put down poison as we’ve got three or four wild cats. Luckily, they keep the rats and mice at bay.’
Elsewhere, Leeds Council warned its city’s 50,000-strong student population about dumping illegal waste ahead of ‘change over weekend’.
A spokesperson for the local authority said: ‘Leeds’ universities and their students are an important part of our community and make a massive contribution to our economy and culture.
‘However, we recognise that in some areas where there is a high population of students there can be issues with anti-social behaviour.
What appear to be floorboards and duvets have been dumped on the streets
Pictures of Leeds this weekend show piles of rubbish next to bins in the city
A party hat is seen perching on the top of an overflowing recycling bin in Manchester
Huge bins in Manchester weren’t enough for the barrage of unwanted items
‘We always work hard alongside the universities to encourage students to feel part of the local community and to show consideration for other residents.
‘No one should have to tolerate anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood and like every year, we will make every effort along with our partners to tackle this throughout the changeover period.
‘We want to assure residents that any issues will be dealt with quickly.’
Manchester City Council has been contacted for comment.