Filthy scenes as university students leave piles of rotting rubbish and abandoned cars in streets before summer break
Get daily updates directly to your inbox + Subscribe See our privacy notice Thank you for subscribing! Could not subscribe, try again later Invalid Email
University students left filthy piles of rotting rubbish and abandoned cars in the streets before heading home for their summer break.
The streets of Cardiff were littered with used textbooks, cutlery, furniture and even cars packed with rubbish.
Alleyways around the Cathays area, a hotspot for student living, became dumping grounds for wrecked sofas and mattresses, reports Wales Online .
As of July 1 hundreds of students have flocked from the city, ready for two months of bliss in the sunshine before embarking on a new year of studying.
The car park at Cathays train station, used by thousands of students, was covered in rubbish overflowing from a YCMA donation bank.
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
At its foot lies a full deconstructed kitchen, Tupperware, chopping boards, bowls, pots and pans and bottles of ketchup and mayonnaise all piled up.
Expensive-looking textbooks, chairs, hairbrushes and DVDs were also poking out of the throng.
As Paleontolgy postgraduate student Richard Jones walks past he stops to take a quick picture on his phone.
He said: "I was walking past a few weeks ago and there was a guy saying there was a handbag there that was selling for £30 on eBay.
"He said he was going back the next day and fill the car up."
A few minutes walk from the station lies Miskin Street.
On the corner two green and white striped deck chairs stand ready for their occupants to return and enjoy the sunshine.
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
On closer inspection, however, the seats are ripped, with a large bottle of Smirnoff vodka lying yards away.
Meanwhile others have taken to twitter to share pictures of the mess, including a car left full to bursting with belongings.
A few yards away builder Christopher Williams is hard at work, gutting a house under the beating sun.
The plan is to turn the semi-detached house from separate flats to one big HMO, or house in multiple occupation.
For him the state of empty student houses are something he has had to get used to, although the smell of rotting food never quite goes away.
The 39-year-old said: "When I started I was shocked.
"Mainly it's just dust and dirt but you do expect that. Then there's freezers full of stuff, food in the cupboards, in the fridges.
"It's all mouldy but what can you do? When you have a fridge with no electricity you just have to see what's in it.
"The smell just hits you. [My colleague] has got a really weak stomach.
"It's just sad for the landlords, they put their hearts into these places."
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
In a matter of weeks the house will be completely renovated ready for a new batch of inhabitants.
Luckily, not everything inside it will be scrapped.
The Cardiff builder said: "Nine times out of ten I will take things to charity shops so they can make a bit of money.
"This morning someone came and picked up two cookers, gas hobs and extractor fans.
"If you give them a bit of a clean most of it can be re-used.
"Sometimes there are clothes with tags still on."
A few doors down from Christopher postgraduate student Jessica Jones is busy scrubbing her front yard to remove the debris from last year's tenants.
Today is her second day in Cardiff after moving from Manchester to study music.
The 22-year-old said: "The street looks derelict but inside the houses are quite nice.
"I come from Manchester so I'm quite used to use but there are some messy students around here.
"A lot of people have left stuff they don't really want. There's a few interesting bits, chairs, barbecues.
"The amount of money that students get through is crazy, things become disposable after a year."
Around Cathays other students have had similar experiences.
Royal College of Welsh Music and Drama student Katie Bayliss has still got one more week before moving out.
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
She said: "It's stressful. You have to make sure everything is spick and span while making sure you get your own stuff ready.
"Some people just don't care and the sea gullscome and open the bags. We try our best obviously because there are families near but you can't help it when the seagulls are ripping everything.
"The worst is the food left in the recycling bins. In this heat it's horrible, I have to hold my breath walking past it."
Around Cardiff there are thought to be 75,000 students across Cardiff University , Cardiff Metropolitan and the University of South Wales.
On Tuesday afternoon Cardiff council maintenance teams and members of Cardiff University are circling the area, determined to keep up with the volume of rubbish coming from each house.
On Rhymney Street local landlord Michael Krokos is getting ready to go visit one of the seven HMOs he owns across Cardiff.
Born and bred in the city, he claims to know every tenant on a first name basis to minimize the risk of nasty shocks when they move out.
The 50-year-old Cardiff graduate said: "It's quite spooky like this. It feels like one of those zombie movies."
He added: "The problem is not so much the students but relying on the duty contractors as you book them months in advance like the cleaners, painters, decorators. They know they've got you in a tight position so they can mess you around or not turn up."
A bigger problem still for Michael is absentee landlords who are not so quick to clean and update houses.
He said: "There are issue with landlords but the first thing I try and do if find out what the agents are and if the agents aren't going to be compliant I go to the registry office to find out who owns it."
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
(Image: WalesOnline/WS)
Sex doll found in skip at student digs after horrified man spots LEG sticking out of rubbish
To help with the big move out a 'Love When You Leave Campaign' has been set up to make students aware of how to get rid of rubbish.
A spokeswoman for Cardiff University said: “We are one of three universities in the city centre and we take our responsibilities to the local community and other residents extremely seriously.
“Together with our Students’ Union, we work hard to ensure that all of our students are made aware of their responsibilities around waste, recycling and charity collections throughout the year.
“We are a partner in the ‘Love When you Leave Campaign’, which helps ensure students living in the city centre are aware of waste collection dates, donation points and what to do with unwanted goods at the end of term.
“The University and Students’ Union also work closely with Cardiff City Council to ensure we take a co-ordinated approach to messages around responsible waste disposal and recycling.”
Michael Michael, Cardiff council cabinet member for clean streets and recycling, said: “All students need to plan ahead when they leave their rented property so that any unrecyclable or unusable waste is put out for collection on the correct waste collection day.
“Failure to do this causes an eyesore for other residents and the rubbish bags are often ripped open by seagulls causing large levels of street litter If students persist on doing this, they will receive a Fixed Penalty Notice.
"A great deal of time and effort has been put into providing the various recycling and reuse schemes through the Love When You Leave Campaign and we ask everyone to plan ahead and use the facilities provided.”