
Bradford Council is continuing its crackdown on illegal and unauthorised clothing banks in the district.
Over the past two years the council has removed almost 65 unauthorised and illegal clothing banks from its streets including 40 in the last month. These were all placed without the owner’s consent and/or the relevant permissions and often blocked footways and caused obstructions. The council says they also attracted anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.
Around a tonne of rubbish was also removed from the clothing banks including, broken toys, old bedding, odd shoes, food, books, soiled clothing and needles. A further two tonnes of rubbish was also removed from the streets around the clothing banks.
Coun Alex Ross-Shaw, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “We have received a number of complaints about these illegal and unauthorised clothing banks. They are often placed blocking footways or on private property without the owner’s consent or the relevant permissions and some have even been stolen from other areas.
“We have made numerous efforts to deal with this in an informal way and in most cases the clothing bank are removed, however they tend to appear in other locations causing the same issues again.
“No-one really knows where the items in these illegal clothing bins end up, but most of the time they don’t benefit charity. The fact we’ve also cleared up several tonnes of fly-tipping as part of this crackdown shows how much of a blight they can be on a street.”