HUNDREDS of residents are calling for authorities to take action on the increasing number of rubbish being left to rot across Merton.

Residents across the London Borough of Merton have signed a petition to waste company Veolia and Merton Council to combat the volume of rubbish and increase of flytipping in the area.

The petition is asking for more CCTV cameras, more enforcement officers and more regular emptying of rubbish bins to be introduced.

Petition organiser Sally Knocker, wrote on the campaign page: "Almost every day, people living in Colliers Wood and other parts of Merton come out of their houses to find quantities of rubbish on their streets.

"This includes fast food packaging, beers, cans etc but also much larger fly tipping items - furniture, tyres, bedding etc.

"This is partly caused by lazy and thoughtless people not taking their own rubbish home, but it’s also because bins aren’t emptied regularly and there is little or no enforcement from Merton Council.

Litter breeds litter. It looks filthy and affects everyone’s mental health.

"We need Merton Council and its contractors who are paid millions to take urgent action to address this major and ever worsening issue."

MORE: 'New bins attract rats, foxes and fly-tippers' - says Pollards Hill residents

Wimbledon Times: Haydons Road Haydons Road

Another resident, who lives on Kingsley Road, told Wimbledon Times: "We are drowning in filthy streets and fly-tipps and the council seem to look away.

"The streets are not cleaned regularly and properly and residents as well as businesses along Haydons Rd have to keep their rubbish inside their flats for up to two weeks, as the council doesn't provide them with a reasonable solution to their waste problem.

Haydons Road parade looks revolting, worse than ever."

Selma, of Conway Gardens in Pollards Hill, said she is embarrassed by how dirty her street looks.

"Merton Council is charging for the items to be picked up so now people come to our road and dumb their rubbish and flytip," she said.

My friends come to the road and ask what is wrong with my street.

"I hate it. It's disgusting. You get rats and mice due to the flytipping.

"There should be CCTV."

Wimbledon Times: Conway Gardens Conway Gardens

In response to the petition, Veolia said that their waste teams return more often if the bins are reported as overflowing.

Veolia went onto say that if a litter bin is overflowing, residents should report the bin and it will be cleared within two hours. 

“Veolia operates the street cleansing service covering over 10,000km of roads across the four boroughs of the South London Waste Partnership in Croydon, Kingston, Sutton and Merton," said a spokesperson.

"As well as making 9,500 visits each week to empty on-street litter bins across the SLWP, Veolia’s team sweeps streets and pavements, empties recycling banks, and clears fly-tips, to keep each borough safe, clean and tidy.

"Veolia’s street cleaning teams visit and empty 80% of on-street litter bins in Merton at least once a day, with bins in quieter areas being emptied twice a week.

"On-street litter bins should only be used for small items and not filled with black sacks, which prevent others from using the service correctly."

Merton Council said they are launching a "Keep it Clean" campaign to help tackle the issue.

A Merton Council spokesperson said: “Our community and council share the same goal in making Merton a cleaner, greener place. Last year we cleared 16,000 fly tips, 96% within 24 hours of being reported.

"Our Neighbourhood Officers have increased the number of street inspections they make to hold our contractor to account and in the last 6 months, we deducted £26,825 from our service provider for under performance.

“We continue to make proactive and preventative steps to tackle litter and fly-tipping on our streets.

"We're investing in more mobile CCTV to be deployed in hot spots across the borough.

"We continue to act against those who don't respect our streets, taking in £521,290 in fines for litter and fly-tipping offences over the last year.

“Fly-tipping is a growing problem across the country, but our message to those who disrespect our streets in our borough is clear: don't mess with Merton.”

To report a specific bin visit here.

To see the petition click here.