LATE-NIGHT revellers have been dumping rubbish outside a Southend kebab shop.

The unsightly mess was left outside Ali Babas Kebabs, in London Road, following a busy Friday night.

The picture was taken at about 8am the following morning by a reader who was disgusted by the pile of fast food cartons.

John Clarke, from Leigh , saw the rubbish while travelling into town for breakfast.

He said: “On Saturday morning all the shoppers come in to town and they are greeted with a pile of fast food rubbish like that from late-night drinkers.

“This sort of thing could also attract rats. It’s annoying local ratepayers pay to have this cleaned. It should be down to the kebab shop.

“McDonald’s clear theirs, you see their street cleaners litter picking outside.”

The Echo showed Ali Keskin, owner of the shop, a picture of the rubbish. He said: “I can’t leave the front of my business like that, it’s no good for me. “Yes, Friday and Saturday night, we get like that because it’s busy, but when we finish we clean everywhere.” He said he cleans up at about 5am.

Steven Crowther, Southend Council’s group manager for waste and environmental care, said: “This location is part of our regular seven-days-a-week cleansing schedule.

“Normally it is cleared quite early in the morning, as the cleansing crews work through the seafront, High Street and London Road areas as first priority. We will liaise with the premises to discuss arrangements for clearance of litter generated by their business.

“This would be our first step.”

He said if this did not prove fruitful there was further action the council could take.

He added: “Our procedures are that if a business should fail to cooperate with such an approach, and persistent littering continued, we would consider legal action.

“This would involve us gathering further evidence of the alleged offence, and we could then potentially apply for a Street Litter Clearance Notice to be served.”