Tollington councillors Flora Williamson, Anjna Khurana and Mick Gilgunn

DIRTY mattresses, discarded pizza boxes and piles of food are just some of the items that litter the streets on a Holloway estate for weeks at a time, leaving residents frustrated that nobody comes to clear it up.

The fly-tipping on Cornwallis Place and Kiver Street has become so bad that Islington Labour have called out Peabody and Clarion, the housing associations that maintain the estates, for making the neighbourhood “feel unloved”.

Labour member Flora Williamson said: “I’ve been a Labour councillor in Tollington ward for 11 years and rubbish has always blighted the Cornwallis Square and Kiver Road estate.

“It’s simply not good enough that Peabody and Clarion haven’t yet come up with a system to keep the whole estate regularly clear of litter.”

Local resident Connor Virgo said: “There are piles of food on the floor daily – every week, at least – literally directly underneath the ‘no rubbish’ signs.”

A fly-tipped fridge

When the Tribune visited the streets this week, there did appear to be a significant improvement in the cleanliness, but it is “the best I’ve seen it for a long time,” Mr Virgo added.

Tollington councillors Flora Williamson, Anjna Khurana and Mick Gilgunn welcomed the recent improvement.

They said in a statement: “We have met with Peabody, and council officers are trying to work with the housing associations – so there has been some improvement very recently – but we want Peabody and Clarion to have a long-term solution to keeping the estate clean and tidy.”

Rihanna Abdel, of Kiver Street, said: “I think the foxes in the night come and take all the food. People come and smoke at night and leave their rubbish. OK, it’s clean today, but on other days this week it’s too much, too dirty.”

Rubbish left in street

Another resident, who did not wish to be named, said: “It’s awful. The anti-social behaviour it attracts is the worst thing about it – there’s a lot of drug dealing.

“Even when you phone up and report things, they do nothing. They just don’t care about the tenants or anything like that. I just don’t think people are doing enough.”

A spokesperson for Peabody said: “We sympathise with residents’ frustrations about people littering and illegally dumping rubbish. We’re aware of the issue and regularly clean it up. We recently met with councillors Williamson and Gilgunn to discuss this, and we will be working with partners and other landowners to tackle the problem.”

A spokesperson for Clarion said: “We share the concerns and frustrations of residents regarding persistent fly-tipping on the Kiver Road estate and have been working hard with the local authority and partner housing associa­tions to combat this.

“Steps taken include an increased CCTV presence on the estate, an increased rate of estate inspections from a quarterly to a monthly basis, and letters to residents asking them to report anyone suspected of fly-tipping.

“Fortnightly sweeps are currently being conducted to remove fly-tipped items.”