A retired midwife is facing a potential jail term over a six-foot-tall rat-infested pile of rubbish in her front garden that has spilled out onto the pavement.
Sharon Cochrane, 66, has angered despairing neighbours by dumping a mountain of broken furniture, household appliances, bags of rubbish and tyres outside her £240,000 seaside bungalow
Other items littering the residential road in Hunstanton, Norfolk, include a supermarket trolley stuffed with rotting vegetables, a packet of fresh anchovies and other groceries.
The trolley is next to an abandoned sideboard and a car with a damaged wing and flat front tyre parked on the street. Inside the vehicle is an adult-sized stuffed toy.
Officials at the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk have served Ms Cochrane with an enforcement notice requiring her to clear up her land before May 27.
If she fails to do so, she could be served with a court injunction to remove the rubbish which might lead to her being jailed for contempt of court if she ignores it.
Her next-door neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘The state of her garden is disgusting and atrocious.
‘The rubbish has been building up gradually but it got completely out of hand about three months ago.
‘She used to have another house nearby which was repossessed and a lot of the contents ended up being dumped in her front garden here. Then her friends came round with two more car loads.
‘The rats come through to our garden almost every night. We can tell they are there because our light sensors go off.
‘I have put boulders by our back garden fence to stop her dogs burrowing through. We also have to keep our windows closed because of all the flies in the summer months.’
The neighbour said he had been forced to put up a large fence at the side of his front garden to try and hide the rubbish.
But he added: ‘There is so much of it now that it is over the top of our fence.
‘She has left a little pathway through all the debris to get down the side of her bungalow because you can’t reach the front door.
‘The rubbish is literally spilling out on the street, so people have to cross the road to get around it.
‘She has wheelie bins but the council don’t bother to empty them because there is nothing in them. All her rubbish just gets dumped at the side of her house.
‘She had a big fridge freezer blocking the pavement until recently when the council made her move it. That has now just been chucked on the rubbish pile.’
Retired printer Roger Miles, 77, who lives in the road, added: ‘In the last few months, the rubbish has just got stupid. It is a shame because this is a lovely place to live and everyone else looks after their homes.
‘My neighbour has their place on the market and having this eyesore over the road is not going to help them sell up.
‘One of the bungalows next door to all the rubbish is a holiday let and the lady who looks after it said that people who rented it could not use the garden because of the rats.’
Another neighbour who didn’t want to be identified said: ‘I have lived here for 58 years, and my wife gets really upset about the sight of the rubbish.
‘You see people crossing over to the other side of the road to avoid it. I have heard of live and let live but it is just ridiculous.
‘Things got so bad that some of the neighbours held a meeting about it and got a local councillor involved. Now it finally looks like the council is doing something about it.’
One resident fumed: ‘It stinks, there are rats and it’s dangerous. There are children walking past and it could fall onto the pavement at any time and then there’s the fire risk.
‘It lowers the tone of the whole street. If people want to sell their houses it’s going to lower the price.’
A photo on Google Street View taken in 2009 shows the three-bedroom property – which used to belong to Ms Cochrane’s late mother – looking pristine with a well-tended garden.
Ms Cochrane, who has two dogs and six cats, is said to have lived there for the last nine years. The rubbish first started to appear in 2023, neighbours said.
The Section 215 Notice served on her by the council requires her to remove all ‘waste material, white goods and general household items’ from the front and side of her bungalow.
This must be done within a week of it coming into effect on May 20, unless she lodges an appeal.
It warns that she could be prosecuted or served with an injunction in the High Court or county court if she does not comply.
Ms Cochrane appeared outside the house today dressed in yellow wellies and a striped T-shirt as she moved some of the mess.
She said: ‘The world is going to hell in a handbasket and people care so much about my furniture on my own drive.
‘I don’t understand why people are so concerned.’
A council spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the issues raised and continue to work with all parties.’