20 years of rubbish at recluse's Telford home

Environmental health chiefs have won a court order to clean up a home in Telford which is filled with 20 years of rubbish after neighbours complained they could hear rats in the building.

Michael Kenna says he will be left with a £6,000 bill for the clean-up at his home in Wellington after the court order was won yesterday by officials who deemed his semi-detached house a public health risk.

The 68-year-old has been living in the house with cartons in his fridge dating back 16 years, old tins and rubbish strewn across the floors and an overgrown garden.

Bosses at Telford & Wrekin Council were given the warrant by magistrates in Telford yesterday after they took Mr Kenna to court following complaints that rats could be heard running under the floorboards of the home in New Church Road.

Officials will now be able to clean up the home.

Today Mr Kenna said he grew up in the house with his parents but had lived alone since his father died about 20 years ago. His mother died in the 1960s.

He said he had not cleaned his home since his father died and he felt the reason he lived the way he did was down to loneliness.

But he said: "They say there are rats everywhere but that is ridiculous. I admit the garden has been neglected for nearly 20 years, but the birds like it."

Rob Guest, an environmental health officer at the borough council, told magistrates the authority wanted to solve the problem outside of court, but officers were left with no choice.

He told magistrates: "We did find an old mice infestation in the kitchen drawer. The neighbours said they heard rats between the floors. We don't know the conditions of people in the houses nearby and rats carry vile diseases."

Neighbour Colin Bagnall, 61, who had complained to the council, today described Mr Kenna as a 'nice man' but said the way he was keeping his house and garden 'cannot continue'.

He said: "I have had to stop my own grandchildren coming here."

Russell Griffin, a spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said Mr Kenna had been served with a notice under the Public Health Act 1936 but this was not complied with.

He said: "The council therefore had no choice but to apply to Telford Magistrates Court to request a warrant to enter the premises."

Read more coverage in Saturday's Shropshire Star