A BLACKBURN dad-of-five has blasted town hall chiefs after claiming his rubbish-strewn neighbourhood is attracting rats and becoming a threat to public health.

Fahar Islam, 43, says he has even been forced to bag up the refuse and take it to the tip himself in an attempt to keep the streets clean.

Now he wants council chiefs to tackle the problem.

Mr Islam, Boland Street, said: “There is rubbish and litter overflowing.

“Bags are left out in the street and they are attracting cats and dogs, which tear them open.

“Mice have been seen and I’ve been told they are getting into people’s houses.

“Rats are also being attracted – it’s disgusting.

“I have been paying council tax for over 20 years, but the binmen have told me it’s not their job if rubbish is not in the wheelie bins, or in the correct ones.”

He believes regular street sweeping and skips being made available for the public to use would go some way to solving the issue.

Mr Islam added: “I have been driving taxis for 18 years, so I get to see a lot of different areas and I can compare them to my own.

“I am ashamed at what my neighbourhood looks like – people should have pride in their area .”

Bastwell ward councillor, Parwaiz Akhtar, said: “ We need people in the area to tell us who is leaving this rubbish so we can prosecute them.

“We talk to those who don’t have very good English to explain the situation, but they don’t need to know the language to know that they should keep their houses and yards tidy.”

Cllr Akhtar added that refuse and recycling collections are being maintained.