Residents in Tullamore estate afraid to open doors due to rats after illegal dumping

RESIDENTS of Church Hill housing estate in Tullamore are afraid to open their back doors during the current hot spell due to the amount of rats in the area attracted by illegal dumping.

A resident of the estate, whose name is known to the Tribune, said the area has been used for indiscriminate illegal dumping since last year.

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"The smell is awful and the rats will come into the house if the door is left open," he complained.

The resident said he raised the issue on several occasions with Offaly County Council to no avail.

He said he would happily give the council permission to put up CCTV cameras on his property in a bid to catch the culprits.

The resident said he had looked through some of the dumped bags in an effort to identify the perpetrators but did not find anything.

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He said he had also contacted all the local councillors to highlight the problem.

Recently the council paid €59,332 to have illegal dumping cleared away at Chancery Close in Tullamore.