Fury over piles of 'rat-infested' rubbish dumped outside homes as students move out

Neighbours in south Manchester have told of their fury after piles of rubbish were left strewn across the floor and spilling out of bins as students moved out.

Withington residents said the streets are turned into a dumping ground at the end of each academic year when university students leave for the summer. Photos show bins overflowing and charity shops have been left unable to take donations due to the huge demand.

But many of them have had enough, and are calling on students to “take responsibility” and clean up after themselves, instead of leaving rubbish in heaps in alleys and on roads.

Julie Colville, who has lived in Withington for 28 years, said: “It’s heartbreaking. We have to live with this all summer.

"My garden is right next to the alley, and when the bins are overflowing I get flies and I can’t enjoy my garden.” Julie claims the problems come from students - often in good faith - binning household items thinking they’re putting it where it should go.

But the bins get full, and there isn’t enough space for the waste that’s put there - attracting flies and rats. “They’ve got away with it for far too long,” she said.

“They think they’re doing okay because they’re throwing it in a bin, not realising that the bin then can’t be used for what it’s supposed to be used for.”

Another Withington resident told the M.E.N that the area was “always a mess,” and accused Manchester City Council of not doing enough to clear it up.

And while most agree that an ideal solution is for students to take unwanted goods to charity shops, Withington’s stores tend to get so overloaded at this time of year that they are forced to stop taking on donations.

The manager at one charity shop in Withington High Street told the M.E.N she’d