A messy alley filled with rubbish, broken toys and even a sofa is causing misery for one man who wants homeowners to take more pride in their areas.

Michael Dixon, who lives in Beresford Road, Northfleet, said he was sure other areas in the area were affected by people dumping rubbish.

He said: “The council will not intervene unless the dumped rubbish is on public land. This is understandable in as much as clearing the rubbish will encourage further anti-social disposal of unwanted items.

“However, the matter needs addressing - a campaign, perhaps, to clean up the borough, prosecute offenders where possible, leaflet households and monitor problem areas.

“At a Neighbourhood Watch meeting a while ago it was suggested by the community police officer that those serving community sentences could be used.

“The cleaning up of these festering areas cannot be left to the residents for the simple reason that many of them are the cause of the problem and responsible householders see no reason to clear up the mess of those who demonstrate a lack of civic duty.”

Figures show there were 1,153 cases of flytipping in Gravesham over the course of 2011/12. The majority was household waste (439) with most of it dumped on roads (325).

It cost the council more than £70,000 to clean it up.

The single biggest cost came from van loads being dumped with 263 incidents costing the council £22,885.

In 2010/11 there were 856 incidents of flytipping in Gravesham.