A woman is furious after chemical waste dumped by a neighbour has made her life hell for two years.
Jane Coulthard, 62, said the rubbish ‘absolutely’ stinks and claims it has ruined the plants in her front garden, caused £1k damage to her fence and even killed her cat.
The issue stems from the waste, which includes bottles of toilet cleaner, degreaser and washing up liquid, leaking onto land next door.
Ms Coulthard claims that around seven-feet of cleaning boxes, along with a shed, had been dumped against her fence before it ‘collapsed.’
She told MailOnline: ‘It’s horrendous – it’s terrible. I shouldn’t have to live like this – it has got me really down.
‘I’ve got Fibromyalgia so it does affect me because things worry me and of course, it causes me to go downhill. I’m so down about this because nothing has been done.’
Jane Coulthard, 62, from Swindon said the rubbish dumped by her neighbour ‘absolutely’ stinks and is making her life hell
The mountain of chemical waste (pictured) includes bottles of toilet cleaner, washing up liquid and degreaser
Pictured: Bottles are left stacked up on a strip of land neighbouring Ms Coulthard’s property
The rubbish is on a strip of land in-between Ms Coulthard’s house and a neighbouring property. However, the immediate neighbours do not own the land.
Callum Forbes, a local business and resident, is the tenant responsible for the plot.
Ms Coulthard said she had been trying for two years to get her fence fixed and it cost her £1k to keep it stable in the meantime.
‘I phoned Swindon Borough Council about the dumped chemicals next to my house but they wouldn’t help me, she explained.
‘The items just kept appearing including black bags of rubbish and discarded food. There’s been mattresses out there and then an old settee.
‘I came home from work one day and everything was stacked on the land next to me and I thought “what the hell?”
‘They’re chucking their empties with no lid on and they’re not empty. The chemicals have gone into the ground and and now leaking onto my property.
‘It stinks, it absolutely stinks.
‘I’m sure that that’s the reason my cat died because they like to lick up the rainwater.
‘The smell is horrendous. It really is awful, absolutely awful. There’s degreaser out there and it’s chucked everywhere.
Ms Coulthard added that toilet cleaner and washing up liquid had also been dumped outside her property.
Ms Coulthard (pictured) said she had been trying for two years to get her fence fixed and it cost her £1k to keep it stable in the meantime.
The rubbish is on a strip of land (pictured) in-between Ms Coulthard’s home and a neighbouring property. Callum Forbes, a local business and resident, is the tenant responsible for the plot.
Ms Coulthard said that harmful liquid from the bottles (pictured) has leaked onto her garden and killed off her plants
Ms Coulthard said the mountain of rubbish (pictured) has attracted flies and alleged the chemicals even killed her cat
‘I’m getting black flies in my house and I’ve had to put artificial grass in my garden because it (the waste) was killing everything I planted.
‘I’ve been to the council but nothing seems to get done about it.
‘When it rains I’m flooded with liquid and toilet cleaner and it all comes onto my driveway.’
Asked if she believed a solution would be found in the near future, Ms Coulthard said: ‘I can’t see it, but I’m hoping so.’
A spokesman for Swindon Borough Council said: ‘We are aware of this case and our environmental health team have advised the occupier to dispose of the cleaning chemicals following previous inspections.
‘We have referred the matter to the Health and Safety Executive regarding the business’s storage of controlled chemicals.’
Mr Forbes, said the chemicals are his, left over from a liquidated business.
Local businessman and resident, Callum Forbes, said the chemicals (pictured) are his, left over from a liquidated business
He said: ‘It’s being moved, it is just finding storage for it. It’s chemicals so it is not that straightforward.
‘We can’t just put them anywhere because of the sheer amount of chemicals there.
‘We can’t put them in our garage because it is full of the landlord’s stuff, He says he will empty it but he doesn’t.’
He said that any other rubbish than the chemicals was not his responsibility. He claimed it had been fly-tipped or that it was the landlord’s rubbish. He said that it prevented access to his back gate, annoying him also.
‘We’ve offered to get a skip and clear it for the landlord but I’m sorry, I’m not going to put my hand in my pocket for someone else.
‘I’m not going to be pressured by anyone to remove anything.’
Ms Coulthard said she had contacted Mr Forbes’ landlord about the problem.
The landlord responded to the claims, saying: ‘I have told the tenants previously to clear any mess but the last time I had notification of a problem was September 8, 2023 and this is the first time since then I’ve been notified of a problem.
‘The tenants responsible have been given notice to clear the rubbish.’