A petition calling for the Raeburn Road recycling site to be cleaned up every weekend was submitted to Kingston Council on Wednesday evening.

Councillor Ian George presented the petition to Surbiton neighbourhood committee on behalf of residents in Meldone Close, Surbiton, which is situated at the side entrance to the site.

Currently the council only carries out scheduled clean-ups on weekdays and, consequently, the area often becomes “filthy, unsightly and unhygienic” over the weekend.

Coun George said: “Residents have had to put up with the awful state of this recycling site for too long. Despite us making complaints for many years, the problem persists.

“Problems of fly-tipping do occur and have continued to do so for at least the past five years, but that’s no excuse for ignoring the problem.”

He called for scheduled clean-ups at the weekend and councillors in attendance agreed.

They agreed to raise the matter with Rob Dickson, director of environment and sustainability at Kingston Council.