Alleyway clearance for back alleys and ginnels

The alley behind a row of terraces belongs to everyone and no one. A few bags get left out, a mattress appears, somebody's old fence panels follow, and before long the bins cannot be wheeled through. Our alleyway clearance service empties the passage from end to end. We work for groups of neighbours, single households, landlords and letting agents.

Most alleys are too narrow for a van, and many have bollards or a gate at each end. So the work is done on foot. The van parks at the nearest street end and everything is carried out to it. That takes longer than loading from a driveway, which is why a photo showing the length of the alley helps us quote properly. If the waste was brought in and dumped by outsiders, our fly tipping clearance page explains what to do first.

What we find is usually a mix of household rubbish and garden growth. Split bin bags, broken furniture and old carpet sit under brambles that have come over the yard walls. We take the rubbish and can cut back the overgrowth too, which is the same work as a garden clearance. If the real problem is bins that fill faster than they are emptied, a private bin collection may be the better fix.

Because an alley is shared, the cost is often shared as well. Guide prices go by load size, so one quote can be divided between the houses that back onto the passage. Our guide to how much rubbish removal costs explains how load sizes are measured. Ownership of back alleys varies and is not always obvious, so it is also worth reading what to do about fly tipping on private land.