A disability charity has claimed that service users are being put off visiting their Ilford Lane offices by anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping.

Staff at One Place East, which provides advice, advocacy and direct services for disabled people across east London, say they have been blighted by anti-social behaviour and called on Redbridge Council to tackle the issue.

Chief officer Margaret Summers said there was a constant battle to keep the area behind their offices presentable, adding: “It makes it difficult for us to do our job for people with a disability when people are trashing it.”

She alleged that staff were frequently confronted with urine, drug paraphernalia, smashed bottles, and dumped furniture when they arrived at work.

Staff at the charity recently found bags with brown paper taped under their fire escape and last week had to deal with a fly-tipped mattress as well as a sofa and some chairs, she claimed.

Ilford Recorder: A mattress, sofa, and chair left behind the offices of One Place EastA mattress, sofa, and chair left behind the offices of One Place East (Image: One Place East)

A Redbridge Council spokesperson said that if fly-tipping is reported anywhere in the borough, the items will be removed on the day and said that three fixed penalty notices had been issued in the area since January.

Ms Summers said that shopkeepers had made similar complaints and argued that more work was necessary to improve the reputation of the area.

“It just drags down the area,” she said.

"People don’t want to come here because they see it as not a very nice area. We need to change that.

“I will defend Ilford Lane and where I work but it's getting harder to do that.

“I think if you want to improve this part of the borough you need to come and deal with the anti-social behaviour that goes on."

A Redbridge Council spokesperson said: “Anti-social behaviour makes life unpleasant for everyone. Our enforcement team regularly visits the Fernways area and our street cleansing team also continues to visit the area weekly.”

They noted that there had been no reports of anti-social behaviour at the location and encouraged members of the public to report such behaviour here.