Southampton: Concerns over street lights after pile of waste dumped

A section of Springford Road was closed to motorists on Friday morning after fly-tippers dumped a bath, cupboard doors, steel pipes, and garden waste.

Carol Glister, 61, was woken by a ‘loud noise’ in the night. She told the Echo: “I had just nodded off to bed when I heard a loud noise at about 2am this (Friday) morning.

“It was pitch black and the street lights are turned off from 1am until 4am. 

"Then this morning I saw the council closing off the road at about 5.45am.

“There were four cars parked on the other side of the road and thankfully none of them seemed to get damaged.

“The council moved three of them this morning and another driver I assume left for work later on.” 

She added: "The council came with a couple of trucks but didn't move anything, so I assume they're coming back later in the day to sort it. 

"I had wondered what happened last night as I don't always sleep well but I was on edge after that. 

"I've never known anything like this to happen before, it's crazy. You've got enough in there to re-fit your kitchen!"

Southampton Itchen MP Royston Smith said the street lighting being off was an ‘oversight’ from the council.

He said: “I’m afraid this points to a deterioration of oversight from the council.

“They were warned that turning street lamps off during the night could lead to increased incidents of crime and criminality and here is a perfect example.

“While Labour fund their pet projects they are neglecting the basics, looking after the residents that pay their wages. This was entirely predictable.”

The MP’s comments come after the council implemented plans to switch off Southampton’s street lights for three hours every night in April.

The local authority previously said the plan to switch off lights on residential streets could reduce certain crime rates, though some residents voiced their concerns regarding safety.

At the time, a council spokesperson said: "Neighbouring Local Authorities have already implemented the turning off of street lights and 67 per cent of our consultation respondents were in support of Southampton adopting the same approach.

"Some national studies have shown that certain crimes actually reduce in residential areas where streetlights are turned off.

Asked about the fly-tip and the street lights, a spokesperson for Southampton City Council said: “We are aware of the fly-tipping incident in Springford Road and closed the road whilst we checked the waste for evidence of origin as well as clearing up. 

“Our teams made the area safe for road users and reopened the road this afternoon. 

“If anyone has any information they would like to share with us regarding this incident, we ask them to do so by emailing flytipping.investigation@southampton.gov.uk.”

Many nearby residents were yesterday shocked at the scale of the fly-tip.

One person, who did not wish to be named, said: “My dog woke me up at 2.11am this morning. He was barking so he must have heard something.

"It's quite dangerous and it's silly when you think most of this is recyclable. 

"The ambulances have been using this road as a cut way since Winchester Road has been closed because of the road works.

“I don't know what's going to happen if they need to get through here."

Another resident added: “I heard a noise in the middle of the night and wondered what had happened.

“I've lived here years and nothing like this has ever happened before. It's as if someone's had their whole house renovated and dumped everything.

“You can see people have been driving on the grass to get around all of this."

READ MORE: Southampton road closed due to fly-tipped waste

A spokesperson for Hampshire police confirmed that they had received a call regarding the incident, but that Southampton City Council is dealing with the investigation.

Bianca Pybus was alerted to the fly-tip by her daughter. She told the Echo: “The huge fly tip is blocking residents getting up to hospital from the lower end.

"It's a big cut-through route for many to avoid traffic on Coxford Road including ambulances and now they can't use the road.

"Clearly someone's kitchen, bathroom and few bits of garden waste. Loads of tiles clearly gone into the drain.

"Not good one bit - it's sad to think people possibly paid someone money to get rid of rubbish thinking it’s going to the dump but clearly not."

In April of this year a similar fly-tipping incident occurred in Cumbrian Way after a ‘fly-tipping gang’ dumped asbestos near a bus stop, with one homeowner labelling the criminal act as ‘disgusting.’