Wellington Road has become a death trap, residents say

After years of neglect, Wellington Road, in Werneth, has fallen into disrepair with no sign of improvement, and in recent years has been dubbed a "danger to life".

The street has become progressively worse in the 23 years that Quentin Crooks has lived on neighbouring Grange Court - an "oasis" compared to the dishevelled highway.

Warning for graphic images below

Wellington Road, Werneth (Image: Newsquest)

He said: "For the last two or three years I've worked tirelessly to try and get the council to clean up the mess - but now, it has become a danger.

"There's a dead rat there, and obviously dead rats carry all kinds of things - if a child is messing around that could be a killer."

The 53-year-old added: "Then there's a leaning wall which would kill someone; the council have been out in the past and erected a fence around it which it has completely crushed - if the wall will bend metal it will bend a skull, and imagine what it could do to a child."

Quentin Crooks fears the leaning wall on Wellington Road could crush a child (Image: Newsquest)

He continued: "Oldham Council have a duty of care to make sure that that fence remains the way it was put up, but they will says it's unadopted and it's not their problem - but you will notice there are lampposts and kerbs.

"It's getting worse, I own my own place on Grange Court and a friend from out of the area asked me how do I feel living next to a tip.

"I get absolutely exhausted talking about this, I don't like the idea of little children potentially passing around dead rats."

A flattened dead rat lies in the road (Image: Newsquest)

Since moving to Grange Court, which backs onto the road he fears the greenery behind his house has become an "unhealthy breeding ground" for rats, making it hard for him to "keep pride in my home".

Among items that have been dumped on the street in recent years are kitchen white goods like fridges, a "Coca-Cola cooler from a shop", and even mattresses.

Charlie Daxon has lived on Grange Court for 40 years, and in that time he told The Oldham Times Wellington Road has become worse in recent years.

Rubbish litters the street (Image: Newsquest)

The 73-year-old said: "People drop so much litter, it's awful - there's more today on the left hand side. 

"It's just the mess and when other people see a mess it makes them think they can add to it, and it has definitely gotten worse.

"We need to install bins and they need to be emptied regularly."

Bags and bags of rubbish were tossed over the wall from Wellington Road (Image: Newsquest)

In a statement to The Oldham Times, Cllr Chris Goodwin, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, clarified that due to the road being unadopted it is either the landowner's responsibility or the owners of the properties on the street to maintain and clean it.

However, the Chadderton South ward member explained that if it is unknown who the landowner is, the council will "sometimes step in to help out", especially when the safety of residents could be at risk.

He said: "The Heras fencing was put in place some time ago to make the area safe. An officer will be visiting the scene over the coming days to check on it.

A smashed fence lay beside at an entrance to a construction site on Wellington Road (Image: Newsquest)

"Also, we know fly-tipping and the illegal dumping blights communities. No one wants bags of rubbish and waste left on their street and we can understand how frustrating it is for residents. That’s why we launched Don’t Trash Oldham – to help clean up our communities.

"After receiving a report about the waste an officer visited and investigated. Some evidence was recovered from the scene and we will be following this up."

Cllr Goodwin added: "The waste will be removed. If you see someone dumping waste report it to us.”