RESIDENTS say they are having to live next door to a rat-infested car park in Deane.

Elderly tenants at sheltered accommodation in Runnymede Court say vermin are being drawn to the area by the piles of rubbish left in a neighbouring car park.

Margaret Hartigan, aged 74, nominated the grot spot as part of The Bolton News Bin It For Bolton 2007 campaign.

Mrs Hartigan said: "It really is a mess. I hate walking past it, especially after some of my neighbours saw rats running around.

"There's all sorts dumped there. It's unsightly and a health and safety hazard, and we have to live next to it.

"When it's windy all the rubbish blows right next to the fence which separates the car park from our flats. It's just been left to build up - there's piles of it."

Mrs Hartigan said the flats' warden had reported the site to the council but nothing had been done.

Mrs Hartigan said: "We've been led to believe that the car park is privately owned, which means its the landlord's responsibility to clear up the rubbish. But we don't know who the landlord is."

The Bolton News has received hundreds of emails, phone calls and website comments since we launched our campaign.

We are asking residents to log on to our website to report grot spots in the borough.

We will highlight areas of concern to Bolton Council and work with them, and community groups in the area, to help clear the streets of junk and rubbish - and restore pride in our town.

Chris Jeffries, of Eagley Brook Way, Bolton, said in an email: "I applaud the return of the Bin It For Bolton campaign. I am appalled at the amount of litter and rubbish to be found on roadside verges in Bolton.

"St Peter's Way, from the M61 to its junction with Blackburn Road, is a disgrace, as is Watermeetings Road.

"With the considerable number of community service orders handed down by the Bolton courts, why is this source of free labour not being utilised? Or will the health and safety brigade or the unions object?"

In another email, A Concerned Local (username), from Blackrod, said: "I would just like to say I am 100 per cent behind your campaign to clean up the town.

"I live in Blackrod and I have tried many times to get the main streets, and especially along the A6 bypass, cleared of litter. No-one seems to be interested and I rarely see a street-cleaner all year.

"I hope the campaign raises awareness of the problem so that I am not ashamed to bring friends into the area."

To report a grot spot in your area, email us here.