A SOUTHAMPTON street was blocked by fly-tippers who dumped a large amount of rubbish in the middle of the night.

People living in South Mill Road have spoken of their shock after waking up yesterday morning to discover that several items had been left in the middle of the street.

The unsightly trail of rubbish included trees, rubble and part of a washing machine, plus an assortment of children's toys.

One woman said living near the scene of the illegal dumping said she was woken at 2am by a huge bang.

It was not until she went outside a few hours later that she noticed fly-tippers had used the road as a tip, leaving it impassable.

She said: "I tried to report it to the police as it was blocking the street but they passed me on to the Environment Agency, who couldn't help as it was a council issue.

"I tried to call them and they weren't taking any calls due to Covid, so in frustration I put it on social media.

"One of our neighbours is having work to their house. We woke them up, thinking it had come from their property, to see if they were OK.

"The rubbish included garden waste and concrete fencepost footings, plus palm-type trees, a washing machine drum, black bags with goodness knows what in, a big tree stump and rubble. There were also a few kids' toys."

Cllr Steve Galton contacted the city council's highways department and asked them to remove the waste.

One resident said: "We're used to hearing about rubbish being dumped in car parks and country lanes but it's unbelievable that fly-tippers would block a residential road in the middle of a city."

It comes just weeks after it was revealed that Southampton has seen more then 70,000 fly-tipping incidents over the past eight years.

As reported in the Daily Echo the unauthorised dumping has cost taxpayers more than £2m.

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith described the data as shocking and said there should be more severe penalties.

Campaigners said residents should be educated. Lyn Brayshaw, a member of voluntary group CommonSense - which also runs litter picking initiatives across part of Southampton Common - said: “It’s sad that there are so many people out there that feel it’s ok just to dump stuff. People should not need someone else to clear up after them.”