'A gang is burning flytipping in my neighbourhood week after week - but Sheffield officials won't do anything'

Four nights a week, residents of Long Acre View - an official travellers’ site operated by the council in Holbrook - close their windows against the thick smoke pouring from an illegal burning pit.

Bundles of industrial cable are thrown on the fire day after day so the gang responsible can burn away the rubber and extract copper wiring, with no thought to the acrid chemicals everyone around them - including children - has to breathe in.

The resident told The Star: “It’s our own personal nightmare.

"We travellers are all tarred with the same brush and all everyone around us sees is the fires, and think we are all responsible, that we don't care about where we live.

“But I’m proud of where I live. It didn’t used to be like this. It was a lovely community where children played outside. I want it to stop.

"The fires are so thick and bad that everything is sticky. Everything stinks or is destroyed by smoke damage.

“And these are grown men who will threaten to attack you, to set fire to you and your home, if you tell them to stop.”

The resident claims it’s been going on for over a year, and The Star has seen CCTV from at least 30 different days over the past four months showing fires on site.

But the group can’t burn the waste they take in fast enough. Heaps of flytipping - including fridges, mattresses, wiring, toys, car parts, construction waste and furniture - is building up into piles measuring nearly two metres tall across Long Acre View.

“There are rats everywhere now when there didn’t used to be,” said the resident.

However, despite near-nightly fires going on for over a year, despite growing mounds of flytipping on what is ostensibly council property, and despite months of reporting it to local authorities, the resident says Sheffield City Council, police and fire services are “looking the other way”.

“I think it’s because we’re travellers,” said the resident. “They’re ignoring it because it’s ‘their’ problem.

"Do officials not even want to investigate where the reels of cables are coming from?

“It makes you feel so completely deserted. The police are in denial, the fire service is in denial, the council has washed their hands of it. It's so frustrating to live with it and there's so much evidence.

"It would be solved overnight if the police and council did their jobs."

The Star has seen logs showing how over more than 25 calls were made to the fire service in recent months over the fires, as well as emails and letters of complaint to the council, ombudsman, South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue.

One ally the resident has is the Labour MP for Sheffield South East, Clive Betts, who told The Star he had visited the site and called it “an absolute disgrace.”

He said: “I was appalled at what I saw and have made complaints to the council, fire service and the police.

“I’ve spoken to [the resident] and they’re very sensible, takes great pride in their home and has every right to be concerned about the state they and neighbours have been forced to live in.

“I can’t prove they (who are burning the waste) are running a business out of this but they are arranging the burning of cables every other night. It seems they are a repository for cables - cables coming from where, I might ask.

“I was very angry when I left the site. I’ll be taking my complaints to the council’s chief executive.”

It is also understood SYFR’s Chief Fire Constable Chris Kirby has visited the site. The resident says they feel “nothing came of this.”

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The Star contacted South Yorkshire Police, SYFR, the office for Mayor Oliver Coppard, and the city council about what action would be taken.

Councillor Douglas Johnson, Chair of the Housing Policy Committee at Sheffield City Council, said: “We want every person in Sheffield to live in a neighbourhood where they feel safe, secure, and part of a thriving community. This includes Long Acre View, which the council has no plans to close.

“We are looking into the concerns and frustrations of the residents of Long Acre View and are working with police and fire services to tackle this ongoing situation.

“If anyone has any more information they can pass on to ourselves, the police or fire service to help us stop these incidents, we urge you to do so. Any help our local communities can offer is greatly appreciated.”

Meanwhile, a fire service spokesperson confirmed the numerous calls they had received and said: “We can confirm the fire service has responded to several incidents at this site. We are continuing to support our partners and the longer term, multi-agency response to the reported issues.”

South Yorkshire Police Chief Superintendent, Jamie Henderson, said: “We are aware of the reports of fly-tipping and fires at Long Acre View, and my officers visit the site as often as we can, not only in response to incidents, but to build relations with residents and to provide an opportunity for their concerns to be discussed.

“We are committed to acting on the concerns of local residents, together with our partners at the council and fire service, to resolve the issues being faced, and I would like to encourage anyone with information that could help us identify those involved in this behaviour, to please get in touch.

“You can report information to us online, via live chat or by calling 101 quoting investigation 964 of May 27, 2024.

“Alternatively, you can provide information anonymously via independent charity Crimestoppers by calling 0800 555 111 or online at www.crimestoppers-uk.org.”

Mayor Coppard’s office did not reply.