The UK village where so much rubbish gets dumped nobody can sell their homes

Villagers are struggling to sell their homes in a notorious fly-tipping blackspot – because buyers are put off by unsightly piles of rubbish. Neighbours living in the quiet village say they have to find alternative routes when driving because roads are blocked by dumped waste.

And some homeowners have even struggled to sell their properties in Peterstone, near Newport, South Wales, due to the issue. It comes as sofas, fridges and tyres have been spotted strewn across grass verges while building rubble lies abandoned on streets. Villagers say the “place feels forgotten” after the local pub the Six Bells closed – and there is no shop or post office available.

Teacher Lee Colvin, who lives in the village, said: “You’ve got cameras being put up and then hours later being cut down. The stumps are still there.

“It’s actually affecting people’s ability to sell their homes around here. It’s that bad.

“One of the worst incidents I saw in Peterstone was outside our house when a white van literally pulled up with a big tank with hazchem marks all over it and he just turned the tap on and it all started spewing out.

“I’m a science teacher and knew what was coming out of that tank was not good. The guy said it was water. It definitely wasn’t.

“They ripped the number plates off and fled after I challenged them. That’s how blatant it can be. But it’s not usually that blatant – often it happens at night.”

Landscape gardener Rhys Warrilow, of Peterstone, said: “At Green Lane, which runs across the back of the houses here, it’s constant and you have to avoid the lane a lot of the time because stuff has been dumped.

“The amount of tyres you see is phenomenal. Often you have to turn around and find alternative routes. It’s quite incredible.

“A lot of it is building work and rubble which has been emptied off the back of a lorry but you’ll also get fridges, sofas, and general household waste.”

Rhys says the problem has worsened since the council reduced frequency of refuse collections.

Rhys said: “Black bin collections are less frequent and tips are operating booking schemes. Where we are, sort of in between Newport and Cardiff, you’ll get people coming from Cardiff dumping stuff because it’s more difficult to trace.

“You’ll also have people in the local area using waste collectors instead of doing it themselves but that waste collector might often be just dumping it.”

Bernie Cook, the village’s longest-standing resident, added: “At Christmas time in particular you’ll find massive pieces of furniture “I presume from where people have had new stuff for Christmas and can’t be bothered to dispose of what they don’t want properly.

“I’ve seen it get far worse of late. When my children were small there was nothing like this. Certainly no refuse dumping from building contractors. It’s dreadful. Often it’s filthy because there’s all sorts in there.”

Welsh Government statistics revealed Newport recorded the highest number of fly-tipping incidents across Wales in 2023 and 2024 with 8,139 cases ” 37 per cent more than Cardiff.

The figures revealed there has been a 63 per cent surge in fly-tipping incidents in Newport since 2019.

Newport City Council now empties black bins just once every three weeks whilst household waste centres operate solely through advance booking arrangements.

And the council issued just 124 fines for fly-tipping last year despite investigating 7,300 reports – and only 10 were successfully prosecuted.

A Newport Council spokesman said: “We spend more than £2.2m to dispose of non-recyclable waste every year. New data shows that almost 40 per cent of it could have been recycled at home.

“The Welsh Government has set targets for Welsh councils to recycle 70 per cent of household waste.”

“Recycling rates in Newport have improved significantly over the last 15 years, up from 20 per cent to 67 per cent. However we must increase our recycling rate to avoid a heavy fine.”

Newport council revealed that between April and June this year their waste enforcement team issued 50 penalties for flytipping and other waste-related violations totalling £14,700.

The council spokesman added: “As well as issuing fines the team has also increased other enforcement actions. The number of warning letters issued for household waste offences during this period was 195 and the number of statutory notices given to people for household waste offences was 123.

“Both of those stats are up on the same period in 2024 (24 warning letters and 36 statutory notices respectively).

“These are first steps on the enforcement process with regards to household waste.

“Officers will look to work with people on presenting their waste correctly with fines being issued as a last resort to repeat offenders. The team has also passed 10 serious environmental crime cases to the council’s legal team for further action.”