HOLIDAYMAKER Sam Spence is ashamed of his home town after returning from two weeks in Crete to find rubbish piled up in his street.
And Mr Spence, 63, said he would not invite new friends he met on the Greek island to Blackburn because of litter problems.
According to Mr Spence, Blackburn with Darwen Council's new recycling scheme and irresponsible residents are to blame for heaps of rubbish in an alleyway between Shaw Street and Whittaker Street.
But the council today vowed to prosecute those responsible for dumping the rubbish and one of Mr Spence's neighbours said it was up to local residents to help keep the place tidy.
At the moment, 12,000 houses piloting a new waste collection scheme have non-recyclable rubbish collected once a fortnight, with three other containers -- one for waste paper, one for garden waste and one for other recyclable such as glass and metal -- emptied on alternate weeks.
While council bosses have hailed it a success, with about 200 tonnes of rubbish a week which previously would have been dumped in landfill sites now being recycled, the council has been criticised by councillors and angry residents.
They say the alternate collection weeks allow rubbish to build up and prompt people to dump it.
Mr Spence, of Ribblesdale Place, added: "The first thing I did when we got back from my holiday was go to the newsagents and when I looked up the back street I thought 'What an absolute mess.'
"Who is going to clean this mess up? Why should we have to pay for it to be cleaned up? The fortnightly collection scheme does not appear to be working in some parts of the town.
"We are supposed to have friends coming up who we met on holiday, what are they going to think of Blackburn when they see this?"
Ray Butler, a 65-year-old retired painter and decorator, lives in nearby Denville Road. He said: "It is up to the residents themselves, but if they all got a strong letter from the council it would get sorted. People create their own slums."
Ray Grimshaw, assistant director of direct services, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council: "The area behind Johnston Street is currently part of a back-street cleaning programme and is scheduled to be cleaned later this week.
"The area has been highlighted as problematical and it is a pity that it is being used for the dumping of rubbish. The council intends to prosecute all those found doing so. In support of our Thrash the Trash initiative, if any residents see someone dumping rubbish we would encourage them to report the matter to the Council's Environmental Health department."
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