RESIDENTS who face a fly-tipping nightmare on their doorsteps today pleaded for an end to the problem.

People living in the Pot House area of Darwen are sick of rubbish being dumped nearby but do not know where to turn for help.

Council chiefs claimed they were powerless to act because the land in question is privately owned, and it is believed council staff have been unable to find the landowner to pass on concerns - or take enforcement action - about the state of the property.

Geoffrey Claypole, of Dandy Row, said he had had enough of coming home to find piles of rubbish in his way.

He said people had been throwing their unwanted furniture and rubbish on the unadopted pathway leading from Roman Road to the row of houses in Dandy Row for some time.

In the latest incident, Mr Claypole confronted two men dumping rubbish and when he asked them to stop they said they were being paid to do it.

Mr Claypole said: "There's all sorts being dumped there. We had a huge bonfire to burn the stuff last year which residents from Dandy Row attended, and we have been trying to keep it tidy but someone keeps persistently fly-tipping.

"Then other people see the rubbish and decide it's OK to dump stuff there too. It's a vicious circle. We have had window frames and a settee left there among other things.

"As far as I know it isn't a designated footpath but it has been a right of way for the last 25 years and cuts between two parcels of land. I have been into Blackburn and Darwen Town Halls to speak to people in cleansing but haven't got anywhere with it.

"Other people can find ways of getting rid of rubbish without dumping it here, so why can't these people?"

Peter Hunt, director of direct services at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: "The land in question is privately owned and unless the material being dumped is of a hazardous nature, the council would not normally intervene."