Eyesore of takeaway litter outside fast-food shop

The scene outside Ali Babas Kebabs, in London Road, Southend The scene outside Ali Babas Kebabs, in London Road, Southend

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.”

Comments(32)

Rich~Carol says...
12:26pm Sat 15 Sep 12

So why didnt the shop keepers clear it up afterwards. Its not hard and would take the 5 mins. Maybe they like living in sshhitt . Its up to the kebab owners to clear up the mess so come on Ali clear up the mess.

Alec Cikes says...
12:47pm Sat 15 Sep 12

I tend to agree, so why didn't the shop owner, Mr Keskin have the mess cleaned up by 5am?

Vermin will run rife around this rubbish...

Definitely bad for business!

One can only hope that he doesn't keep his kitchen in the same state!

Born & bread says...
12:49pm Sat 15 Sep 12

It looks like the mess of 40 thieves. There are a few in our town.

Ed in says...
1:02pm Sat 15 Sep 12

Yes sure Mr Keskin should have cleared up, but more importantly the customers should have disposed of their rubbish in a responsible manner instead of just dropping it.

Nebs says...
1:09pm Sat 15 Sep 12

The council have missed a trick here. Introduce a £50 fine for littering, and put a few patrols outside shops like this, and along the beach, and the revenue you raise should be enough to enable you to reduce council tax by half.

EssexPerson says...
1:46pm Sat 15 Sep 12

Ed in wrote:
Yes sure Mr Keskin should have cleared up, but more importantly the customers should have disposed of their rubbish in a responsible manner instead of just dropping it.
Couldn't agree more, what makes it worse is that there's even a freaking bin right there in the picture!

Alec Cikes says...
1:58pm Sat 15 Sep 12

Excellent idea Nebs, if the Council were to put up signs: £50 fine for littering and a few re.enforcement patrols put into place!

Scum bags who throw their rubbish on the ground would think twice about not throwing stuff in the waste bin if it were to hurt their pockets!

EssexBoy1956 says...
2:25pm Sat 15 Sep 12

This is a bit of a "dog bit man" story. Sorry, but if you give a bunch of half-cut cretins the means to litter the street, that's what they will do. Simple answer: Ali charges an extra 25p on each kebab and uses the money to employ an oik to go round picking the stuff up.

bennykill says...
2:32pm Sat 15 Sep 12

the odds are a drunk idiot emptied the bin outside all over the floor. i have never seen it that messy the next day. the shop do clean up and most people use the bins provided

emcee says...
3:04pm Sat 15 Sep 12

Trying to enforce people not to drop litter, by the use of litter personnel to impose fines, will only be greeted with two fingers and a not so polite "go away", especially at night.
However, it will be a lot easier to place zero tolerance responsibility on the fast food outlets to ensure cleaner streets within a certain distance from their shop. For a start it will need less patrols. In fact, a lot of evidence can be gathered during their "seven-days-a-week cleansing schedule". It would, also, be more straight forward to issue fines to a business. For a start, they cannot run away. These fines should also be substantial to deter any offences occurring by ensuring that staff from these outlets do regular litter patrols in their vicinity.

DogsMessInLeigh says...
3:51pm Sat 15 Sep 12

its been like that for years...i recall it when i used to go into southend late nights and come home early mornings and waiting for a cab near there full of drunken people noshing on chips and keebabs, thats going back 20 years....so why are they worried now, just slap a large fine on the place and be done with it thats will shape them into place.,.. do they pick it up now.? just ask the cory man down there early on Saturday and sunday mornings making it all good.

firedog says...
5:08pm Sat 15 Sep 12

shouldn't the police enforce anti litter laws,or is it someone elses responsibility?

rude boy says...
5:54pm Sat 15 Sep 12

its not really his fault people shud put there rubbish in the bins provided! a bit like my job wear i work people poo in chute rooms n pee in there so is that my fault! and i have been passed there at 5 b4 and the owner has been out there cleaning it up so has corys been there 2, so as some 1 just said it cud be a drunk kicked the bin over, and that 1 time was a 1 off

Brunning999 says...
6:18pm Sat 15 Sep 12

Born & bread wrote:
It looks like the mess of 40 thieves. There are a few in our town.
That is a good comment but I must add we also have many Ali Baba'a also.

Nebs says...
6:20pm Sat 15 Sep 12

emcee wrote:
Trying to enforce people not to drop litter, by the use of litter personnel to impose fines, will only be greeted with two fingers and a not so polite "go away", especially at night.
However, it will be a lot easier to place zero tolerance responsibility on the fast food outlets to ensure cleaner streets within a certain distance from their shop. For a start it will need less patrols. In fact, a lot of evidence can be gathered during their "seven-days-a-week cleansing schedule". It would, also, be more straight forward to issue fines to a business. For a start, they cannot run away. These fines should also be substantial to deter any offences occurring by ensuring that staff from these outlets do regular litter patrols in their vicinity.
Easier and more straightforward, but they are not the ones dropping the litter. I could save all my fish and chip wrappers for a year, and then go and drop them outside a random chippy. The punishment should fit the crime, and the shop owners have not committed any crime. I don't see why they should pay. Catch the litterbugs and give them a fine, or better still give them a day in a yellow tracksuit picking up litter, they are the anti social ones and not the shop owners.

EssexBoy1956 says...
8:35pm Sat 15 Sep 12

rude boy wrote:
its not really his fault people shud put there rubbish in the bins provided! a bit like my job wear i work people poo in chute rooms n pee in there so is that my fault! and i have been passed there at 5 b4 and the owner has been out there cleaning it up so has corys been there 2, so as some 1 just said it cud be a drunk kicked the bin over, and that 1 time was a 1 off
Err, did anyone understand this?

muffindamule says...
8:39pm Sat 15 Sep 12

EssexBoy1956 wrote:
rude boy wrote:
its not really his fault people shud put there rubbish in the bins provided! a bit like my job wear i work people poo in chute rooms n pee in there so is that my fault! and i have been passed there at 5 b4 and the owner has been out there cleaning it up so has corys been there 2, so as some 1 just said it cud be a drunk kicked the bin over, and that 1 time was a 1 off
Err, did anyone understand this?
I understood enough not to want to apply for a job at his place of work. ;-)

DogsMessInLeigh says...
11:39pm Sat 15 Sep 12

bennykill wrote:
the odds are a drunk idiot emptied the bin outside all over the floor. i have never seen it that messy the next day. the shop do clean up and most people use the bins provided
yeah right.. so someone kicked the bin over...then picked it back up and placed it back by the front of the shop....and you go there at 6-7am on Saturday and Sunday Mornings do you..?

APR says...
11:03am Sun 16 Sep 12

Ed in wrote:
Yes sure Mr Keskin should have cleared up, but more importantly the customers should have disposed of their rubbish in a responsible manner instead of just dropping it.
You must be joking.....Expect people to clear up their own rubbish ?, you must be living on another planet.

I've seen it many times. A car stops in a car park, 10minutes later the windows open, and the rubbish is thrown to the ground. The car then drives off.

Then again, I have also seen birds fly into rubbish bins, pull out bags and empty the contents onto the ground.

pendulum says...
11:33am Sun 16 Sep 12

No doubt the shop owner does clean up, and I don't see it that he has an obligation to because he's not the one dropping the rubbish. There's no need to be too hard on him if he has missed a day or someone has pushed the bin over. I'd agree the best option would be to a) have a bin there, and b) fine those who drop the litter.

Basildon.lad.21 says...
3:54pm Sun 16 Sep 12

Its not down to the shop owner to clear up peoples mess. Thats not his job. Its down to people to put their rubbish in the bin, and someone correctly pointed out that there is actually a bin in the picture.

I believe we pay council tax for things like this. It be nice to see a street cleaner on the road clearing up that mess.

Keptquiettillnow says...
4:21pm Sun 16 Sep 12

Why only use this one fast food shop as an example? I am sure that scene is replicated outside any fast food shop on a Sunday morning. Oh not to forget Mcdougles KFC Burger Queen etc etc etc

DogsMessInLeigh says...
10:36pm Sun 16 Sep 12

Keptquiettillnow wrote:
Why only use this one fast food shop as an example? I am sure that scene is replicated outside any fast food shop on a Sunday morning. Oh not to forget Mcdougles KFC Burger Queen etc etc etc
Because......everyon
e goes there to get a kebab, pizza, burger. chips etc at 2-4am...then stand outside and dump the wrappers and get in a cab and bugger off home, KFC and the like have been closed much earlier in the evening...however take a look down southchurch road near to the high street as theres a couple of chicken and Kebab joints there too, yeah lets now blame it on the birds for picking all that out of the CLOSED wheely bin, some responsibility should be down to the shop owner..after all he dished it all out...and don't McDs have someone clean up..?

Nebs says...
11:10pm Sun 16 Sep 12

DogsMessInLeigh wrote:
Keptquiettillnow wrote:
Why only use this one fast food shop as an example? I am sure that scene is replicated outside any fast food shop on a Sunday morning. Oh not to forget Mcdougles KFC Burger Queen etc etc etc
Because......everyon

e goes there to get a kebab, pizza, burger. chips etc at 2-4am...then stand outside and dump the wrappers and get in a cab and bugger off home, KFC and the like have been closed much earlier in the evening...however take a look down southchurch road near to the high street as theres a couple of chicken and Kebab joints there too, yeah lets now blame it on the birds for picking all that out of the CLOSED wheely bin, some responsibility should be down to the shop owner..after all he dished it all out...and don't McDs have someone clean up..?
Why is the shop owner responsible? They are no more responsible than a car dealer who sells a car to a motorist who then runs someone down.

boom says...
11:23pm Sun 16 Sep 12

Anybody caught littering should be heavily fined on their first offence and if caught again they should be forced to pick-up litter for x hours

AndyBSG says...
9:19am Mon 17 Sep 12

Nebs wrote:
The council have missed a trick here. Introduce a £50 fine for littering, and put a few patrols outside shops like this, and along the beach, and the revenue you raise should be enough to enable you to reduce council tax by half.
This.

When they're slapped with a hefty fine the dirtbags who couldn't be bothered to walk the 2 yards to the big green bin shown in the picture will soon learn their lesson.

Audioman says...
4:27pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Still that will not go amiss in Southend.
Just like the dirty sea front.

rude boy says...
8:15pm Mon 17 Sep 12

its not that hard 2 understand essex boy!

rude boy says...
8:23pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Cheers muffindamule least sum 1 understands!! :) and as 4 other comments on saying 2 another person have you been there between 5-7 i have and there r still drunks there throwing there rubbish around ppl need 2 av some respect 4 wear they r living

DogsMessInLeigh says...
11:08pm Mon 17 Sep 12

Nebs wrote:
DogsMessInLeigh wrote:
Keptquiettillnow wrote:
Why only use this one fast food shop as an example? I am sure that scene is replicated outside any fast food shop on a Sunday morning. Oh not to forget Mcdougles KFC Burger Queen etc etc etc
Because......everyon


e goes there to get a kebab, pizza, burger. chips etc at 2-4am...then stand outside and dump the wrappers and get in a cab and bugger off home, KFC and the like have been closed much earlier in the evening...however take a look down southchurch road near to the high street as theres a couple of chicken and Kebab joints there too, yeah lets now blame it on the birds for picking all that out of the CLOSED wheely bin, some responsibility should be down to the shop owner..after all he dished it all out...and don't McDs have someone clean up..?
Why is the shop owner responsible? They are no more responsible than a car dealer who sells a car to a motorist who then runs someone down.
So why do McDonalds send staff out to litter pick..?
If you ran a food business in a prominent position would you make an effort to keep it clean and tidy..?

i call not making sure its always in order ie failing to make an effort to clean up...irresponsible, so if they have a decent head on their shoulders they would be responsible....so yes...they should be responsible.
Thanks.

r6keith says...
3:16pm Tue 18 Sep 12

The mess outside this shop is a reflection of the falling standards in our country today. As a nation we need to toughen up on the minority that are dragging us down into the gutter before we all live in slum type conditions.

DogsMessInLeigh says...
9:41pm Tue 18 Sep 12

.......and it should start with the shop owners....thats why they should hold some responsibility and have higher standards.

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