A LITTER lout who accumulated so much rubbish in her back garden that neighbours contacted the council to complain, has still not cleaned up despite being fined close to £1,000.

Kimberley Eccles, 34, of Sough Road, Darwen, was summonsed to attend court on October 22, over matters relating to fly-tipping and littering which dated back to June.

She was proven guilty in her absence and fined a total of £910.

Angry resident, Maria Eccles, said that since she complained about the rubbish, and since the case went to court, her neighbour has still not cleaned up her mess.

Mrs Eccles said: “The council informed me months ago that they had issued legal proceedings as she didn’t comply with requests to remove the rubbish. We now have seen rats.

“We are just angry that nothing is in place to remove the rubbish after complaining months ago and allowing it to increase.”

Images sent to the Lancashire Telegraph, taken last week, show the rubbish piled high, a week after the court case.

Blackburn with Darwen Council said it is the responsibility of the tenant or landlord to remove any waste, but it was willing to take further action should it not be disposed of.

Executive member for environment, Councillor Jim Smith, said: “This individual was prosecuted in October and fined for failing to get rid of her household waste properly.

“This was obviously causing problems in the neighbourhood and the offences were reported to us leading to the legal action.

“This shows that the Council will not hesitate to take action against anyone who accumulates or fly tips their waste causing mess and eyesores in their areas.

“If the waste remains and is not moved by the resident or landlord, who have the responsibility for this, we can progress further action.

“The accumulating and fly tipping of waste is an absolute scourge of communities and is rightly hated by members of the public who follow the law and help to keep their neighbourhoods clean and tidy.

“We hope anyone who even considers accumulating or fly-tipping will see that you can end up paying many times over in court what you would to dispose of waste responsibly. It’s not worth it.”