A BARRY resident is furious after noticing a memorial bench had been left surrounded by litter for more than a week.

Colin Ham said a week had passed by and bins and the Buttrills playing fields bench had been blighted by discarded items.

The bench, in memory of teenager and footie fan and player David ‘Dinxsy’ Coombs, was located at the field following his death.

His family have since raised hundreds of pounds for various charities by staging an annual football tournament at the fields.

Mr Ham, of Slade Road, Barry, said: “For the past week this disgraceful scene together with full rubbish bins has confronted me when I have been taking my dog for a walk at the Buttrills Field.

“This is not the only area in Barry which is being overlooked on a continuous basis by the Vale of Glamorgan Council. It is about time they got their act together and cleaned these areas of Barry up.

I would be pleased to refer them to other areas which have degenerated into nothing more than slum areas if they would care to contact me.

He added: “It is about time someone spoke up.

“We have two bags of rubbish near our house that the Vale promised to pick up over a week ago and they are still there.

"The annoying thing about this is that they emptied bins on Bank Holiday Monday at the Butts but left this rubbish under the memorial seat.”

Vale Council operation manager for Parks and Grounds Maintenance, Phil Beaman, said: “All playing fields in the Vale are inspected and litter picked on a regular basis. The council works very hard to educate residents about the impact of littering on the community and takes enforcement action wherever possible.”