Telford pensioner's garden cleared after one week and six skips

What a difference a week, six skips and plenty of hard graft has made to one garden in Telford 20 years after it was last touched.

Now pensioner Michael Kenna is preparing for the same to happen inside his house in Wellington.

The 68-year-old has watched every day this week as staff from Telford & Wrekin Council have cleared the front and back garden after winning a court order.

• 20 years of rubbish at recluse’s Telford home

The former warehouse worker has said contractors have removed six skips full of rubbish from his home on New Church Road since they moved in on Monday.

Next week workers will move inside the house to clear everything from old papers to dusty wine bottles and old cartons, some dating back 16 years.

Mr Kenna, who has never married, said the situation spiralled out of control after his father died and he stopped having regular contact with people.

The court order was sought by Telford & Wrekin Council after neighbours complained .

On the latest work, Mr Kenna said: "They have done a very thorough job so I can't complain about it.

"But they do think everything has to be thrown out, and it doesn't.

"The only thing I'm sad about is the number of birds and everything else will be halved. There were a lot of birds around the place and they even found a hedgehog hibernating."

But next week will prove the most difficult for the pensioner.

"I'm not very pleased about them moving inside but there's nothing I can do about it," he said. "I have to accept the situation and one has to back down and accept the opinion of other people in this instance.

"They gave me a lot of white stickers to put on things which are to be left alone so it's going to be a busy weekend for me marking things up.

"But it's not all bad because I retrieved some of the home made wine and I thought it would be like vinegar to drink, but it's absolutely delicious."

Russell Griffin, spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, said: "It's been a slightly more complex job than we expected."

See also:

• Pensioner’s horror at Telford house clearance

• Recluse’s house clean-up begins