A LONG-time Weeke resident says she is "disgusted" by the amount of rubbish being dumped near her home.

Ruth Harrison, 72, has lived in Trussell Crescent for almost three decades, and says the community spirit there has gone to pot over the last few years.

The grandmother, who lives in a maisonette with second husband, David, 71, says she is becoming increasingly furious with the junk that has been dumped in one of the archways that leads from the crescent to the garages behind.

Amongst the items are beds, headboards, cushions, mattresses, hoovers and chairs, alongside bags of rubbish that should be put in recycling bins, she said.

"It's been going on since last year," she said.

"Every time the council comes and tries to take it away, it reappears again the next day."

This week, Winchester City Council appealed for residents to pass on any information about who was dumping the rubbish.

In the archway, the sign asking residents not to leave items for collection there has gone missing - in similar archways further up the crescent the signs remain.

The Harrisons said it was hard to tell who was dumping the goods - they often find the piles have been added to overnight.

Mrs Harrison said: "It just goes on ad infinitum. We have to live here and we shouldn't have to put up with this sort of degradation.

"It makes me sick to stay here now. Trussell Crescent used to be a beautiful place with lovely people and a lovely community spirit.

"That community spirit has gone."

She added that she had also seen foxes rummaging around in the rubbish, which was also smelly.

"I cannot open my kitchen windows because of the smell.

"I cannot bring my granddaughter into this environment because it is too dirty," she said.

Mrs Harrison added that she was not impressed with the help she received from Winchester City Council - she said it was difficult to get through on the phone and calls were not returned.

The couple also said that when the council's contractor, Serco, came to pick up discarded goods, they would often only take what they had been told to, leaving everything else behind.

Mr Harrison added: "If you employ a company to do that job and send them into Trussell Crescent and tell them to collect excess rubbish they should take it.

"But unless they've got a chit to say take a bed' or take a chair' they will not do it."

A spokeswoman for the city council said: "We're down there about once or twice a week clearing fly-tipping.

"That also shows the extent to which people are dumping their rubbish there."

She added that the council needed residents to tell them who was dumping rubbish.

"If people have information about who is doing it, it would be useful if they could contact our housing team.

"We really need to tackle the causes of it.

"We're looking at ways to stop people fly-tipping," added the spokeswoman.

If you have any information about fly-tippers, call the city council's customer service centre on 01962 840222.