Residents have spoke of their anger at living on a ' Walking Dead-style ' estate where mountains of dumped rubbish has led to an invasion of rats 'the size of cats'. Locals living in the Soho area of Birmingham claim shameless fly-tippers and drug-addled 'zombie' addicts have turned their neighbourhood into a no-go zone. Sofas, beds and even discarded toilets are just some of the items abandoned along the patch of grass on Boulton Road where children used to enjoy playing football.
Homeowners claim a group of tenants moving house created the initial mess around four years ago - but now the spot has become a regular dumping zone. They say prostitutes and drug users also flock to the site to take substances and dump their own rubbish, with needles and gas canisters regularly found. Birmingham City Council refuse to clean up the site because it's privately owned and CCTV was only installed a month ago.
Business owner Pete Kumar said the waste had been driving customers away from his beauty salon after they spotted giant rats lurking among the trash piles. Dad-of-two Pete, 50, who owns Riya's Beautonic Lounge, said: "I've got a business right next door to it so this mess is literally on my doorstep. As I open my door, it's just to the left.
We've been there for 10 years. That piece of land was council property. Every two weeks they would come out and cut the grass and clean it.
"We had kids playing football on it and people would walk the dogs , it was perfect. Then around four t.