A giant fly tip was left opposite a church for nearly two weeks because of "an issue with our waste disposal vehicle", Merton Council has claimed.
A mountain of mattresses, bags of rotting rubbish and wooden planks were among items left to build up in Church Road, Mitcham, opposite the parish church earlier this month.
Aug 4: Kicking up a stink: Neighbours take to social media in bid to get huge rubbish pile cleared
The council, which has more than one waste disposal vehicle, finally disposed of the stinking dump on Friday, August 7 after an all-day clean up.
Councillor Judy Saunders, cabinet member for environmental cleanliness and parking, said: "An issue with our waste removal vehicle meant we were unable to dispose of the mess as quickly as we usually do, but as soon as it was available the rubbish was cleared.
"The council has a zero tolerance approach for people who fly-tip. We prosecute where we have sufficient evidence and we work hard to reduce fly-tips by providing a free bulky waste service to everyone in the borough, as well as spending more than £5m every year keeping streets clean."
A spokesman said the council also needed to carry out a Land Registry search to determine who the land belonged to before dealing with the fly tip.
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