'I created art to get fly-tip of urine bottles cleared'

A woman created artwork out of "desperation" to draw attention to a large fly-tip near her home that included "empty bottles filled to the brim with urine".

Mary Courtney said rubbish had been piling up in the alleyway linking Broomfield Road and Kensington Road in Coventry, despite repeated reports to the council and raising concerns with local representatives.

Frustrated by the lack of action, she installed a temporary art display among the waste to highlight the issue. The rubbish was cleared shortly afterwards.

The council has been approached for comment.

"I saw a bag of empty fizzy drink bottles filled to the brim with urine, a pushchair, bedding, a trolley and bin bags," Courtney said.

"I think it is a biohazard. What if kids think it is a bottle of orange pop?"

Courtney said she first reported the issue through the FixMyStreet website but claimed little progress was made.

She contacted the council who said the land was not owned by them and no action would be taken. However, she questioned that decision, pointing out that streetlights had been installed in the alleyway.

She said she then tried "non-stop" to get the issue resolved by reporting it through the council's website, contacting her local councillor, sending emails and posting photographs on the Hearsall Residents' Association page.

"A week later it was still there," she said. "It was just obstacles and more refusals and still the urine was there.

"Fly-tipping is like a magnet, it just gathers more things."

After sharing photographs of the waste on social media, Courtney said somebody suggested creating an art installation to draw attention to the problem.

"I thought, what is there to lose? I had tried everything officially and it had been a failure," she said.

"So, I rummaged inside my recycling bin, got a piece of cardboard and wrote a little poem on a protest banner."

She placed the sign next to the rubbish, photographed it and shared the image online on Thursday, tagging local councillor Patricia Hetherton.

On Friday, Courtney said she saw city enforcement officers clearing the waste.

Courtney said she was "very happy" but what was "even better" is that Hetherton said the council will look at a prevention plan.

"This isn't a one-off and it is just so depressing," she added.

Courtney said it was not the first time art had helped solve a fly-tipping problem.

She said she previously sketched the front of a house on Albany Road that was "driving me nuts" because of an old sofa, overflowing bins and other waste left outside.

After posting the drawing on social media, the fly tip was removed.

"By coincidence, after it had been there for years and years, two weeks later it was all gone, it was a completely unanticipated thing," she said.

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