An angry homeowner has nominated his own backyard as Bradford's worst 'grot spot' following 20 years of dumping by fly-tippers.

Owen Hill, 49, voted for it in a Council survey to find the district's filthiest sites.

Over the years, he has spent more than £1,000 attempting to keep the tippers out. But each time he erects a new fence it is torn down, and whenever he hires a skip to clear the land, the piles of rubbish soon return.

Mr Hill, of Petrie Grove, Thornbury, said the stinking mounds were a health hazard.

"I have just about had enough," he said. "I have complained to the Council but they say they are not responsible.

"It has got much worse over the last few years. I am worried that dumped food could attract rats - and somebody set fire to the pile last week.

"All I want is not to have to race out every time I think somebody is dumping something outside my house."

In recent weeks broken kitchen units, smashed tiles and a old television set have been among the rubbish dumped at the site which Mr Hill co-owns with two of his neighbours.

Lorraine Robinson, who lives next door, said she was having difficulty selling her house because of the mess.

She said: "It is disgusting. Why should we have to pay out our money to have it cleaned up? My house has been on the market since last April."

Richard Wixey, Council Environ-mental Protection director, said the Council had no jurisdiction to intervene in the matter because the tipping was occurring on private land.

"We have every sympathy," he added. "And we would like to point out that both the Council and the Environment Agency will prosecute fly-tippers if residents can get such details as vehicle registration numbers."

So far 9,300 residents have returned post cards asking them to name the district's top three 'grot spots'. Bradford Council sent out 200,000 copies of the postage-paid cards with the Community Pride newspaper.

Mr Wixey called upon those who have not yet returned them to do so as soon as possible. Council officers are hoping to compile a list of the worst publicly owned sites which will then be targeted by clean-up teams. They are also planning to establish a new team to tackle landowners who allow dumping to take place and businesses such as takeaways that may create excessive amounts of litter and waste.

At the last count Oak Lane in Manningham was named Bradford's filthiest site.