Neighbours of a council property where the bomb disposal squad were called twice last week say they’d been complaining about the amount of rubbish there for around ten years.
Two shells were found and had to be dealt with at the home on Lapwater Lane in Holbeach St Marks.
On both occasions, Tuesday and Thursday of last week Lincolnshire Police had to put a 100m cordon up around the property.
A spokesman said the first was a shell that the Explosive Ordnance Disposal team removed.
The second two days later was confirmed to be an empty casing of a bullet after a member of the Ministry of Defence was contacted.
The house was being cleaned by South Holland District Council.
Diane Naylor, who lives in the property next door, received a call at work telling her not to go back home after the first discovery.
“I’ve been reporting the culmination of rubbish in the garden for ten years,” said Diane (69), who bought her former council house over 35 years ago. “The pile of rubbish in the back garden was enormous.
“It damaged my fence and attracted rats, but the council didn’t want to know.
“Presumably the amount of rubbish dumped violated the resident’s tenancy agreement but even now the council says nothing was done wrong.
“They’ve been clearing it now for three months, filled ten skips already and there’s still more to go.
“One contractor told me it’s cost the council £12,000 so far.”
Ms Naylor said residents on the street were aware the previous tenant owned ‘firearms’ but is thought to have done so in a legal capacity.
Another resident of the street who contacted The Voice but didn’t want to be named said: “We’ve been left scared.
“The whole garden was just full of rubbish so who knows what else they’ll find.”
The Voice asked South Holland District Council about the neighbours’ concerns but it’s response did not address those.
“The shells were discovered during the removal of an outbuilding on the instruction of the council whilst repair works are undertaken prior to a new tenant moving in,” a council spokesman said: “The council alerted the appropriate authorities upon discovery of the shells to ensure residents remained safe.”
