THE occupants of a South Ruislip bungalow have been told to remove a pile of old tyres from their garden after neighbours complained .

Hillingdon Council has given the West End Road residents 21 days to move the heap of rubber – or else the authority will remove it and charge them.

Neighbours have been lobbying the council for five months, after becoming alarmed at the scale of the tyre hoard built up behind the bungalow.

Neighbour Douglas Lewington said: “There are hundreds of tyres, and it’s a massive fire hazard.

“They have been told before to get rid of it but nothing happened. I said I would get a solicitor on to it if it doesn’t get sorted.

“It is a six-foot high pile of tyres across the whole garden.”

When the Gazette visited the property this week, the occupants said they intended to comply with the council’s request.

The owner, who did not wish to be named, said the tyres were being sent to Nigeria for a charity project there, and that it was a non-commercial venture.

The council’s deputy director of public safety and environment, Nigel Dicker, said officers had spoken to the owner about clearing his land.

“We are aware that the fire brigade has expressed concerns about the site and requested the owner last month to remove the tyres,” he said.

“However, the council’s antisocial behaviour investigations team will now also be serving a notice on the owner of the property giving 21 days to clear the land.

“If the land is not cleared by then, the council plans to carry out the work itself and recover the costs from the owner.”

A spokesman for London Fire Brigade said it had also investigated the complaints. “It is a private property so we don’t have any jurisdiction, but we have sent officers down there and the occupants said they were going to take action,” he added. “We have been there to advise him.”

The deadline to clear the garden is Friday, December 16.