Illegal dumping transforms former snooker hall into a rat-infested eyesore. Locals plead for action after a year of neglect.
The fenced-off area made people ditch trash on the sidewalk. Now, rats are hanging around because of all the garbage. It’s across from apartments and near the town center.
Sue Ainsworth lives right across the street from the mess. She sees it from her living room window every day, and it’s been this way for a whole year. She thinks people come from everywhere just to dump stuff there.
Workers fixed the roof last year after a big fire. John’s Snooker had a fire in March 2020 before lockdown. Contractors cleared the place in September 2021 and started rebuilding one of the town’s famous buildings then. Now rebuilding seems to have stopped.
John’s Snooker Club was a popular spot in the 80s and 90s. It closed over ten years ago and has been empty since then. The fire damaged it a lot, while the outside walls stayed up.
The council said it’s not their land. They are working with the owner to fix things, and have visited the site with the owner. They looked for proof who dumped the waste and have contacted several people.