A LANDLORD was told to clean up his act by the borough council – but one year on, neighbours are still having to live next door to an eyesore.

As reported in The Gazette last May, the property in Normanton Road, Oakridge, had rubbish and rubble covering the front and back gardens and no fence surrounding the rear garden.

The owner of the property was granted planning permission to extend the rear of the property in September 2011, and in a previous article, neighbours told The Gazette that work started in 2012 but was later abandoned.

The landlord was ordered by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to clean up the mess and make improvements, including levelling surfaces inside and outside the house and creating level paths leading to the property, by June 1 last year.

But one year on, and these pictures show that little improvement has been made, with rubbish and rubble still strewn across the front garden.

In February, the garden was a complete mess, and while it has been tidied up a bit, it was still covered in rubble and mess at the end of last month.

It is not known if there are any tenants currently living in the two-storey house.

One neighbour, who did not want to be named, told The Gazette: “I think it (the mess) has been there for years, and it has been like that since September. They did clear some of it up but I still think they are doing work on it.”

Paul Harvey, Labour councillor for Norden, said: “It is clear that this landlord is out of his depth. We have got to have something done about this. For over a year, residents have been dealing with next door being a building site.”

He added: “I am angry because the local community are having to live with it. We want to promote good practice and see good landlords supported, but bad ones have to be rooted out.”

Tom Payne, environmental health manager at Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council said: “We are aware and have been working with the owner of the property to ensure that waste associated with renovation works does not impact on the living conditions of the residents there or the public.

“However, we are disappointed that despite being asked to tidy up on numerous occasions, the landlord has not taken adequate steps to clear the garden.

“We will be pursuing this matter with the landlord, and may take further enforcement action if necessary.”

The Gazette has been unable to contact the owner of the property.