Six-foot walls of junk inside the filthy house of eviction-threatened hoarder (...who used to be a housekeeper)
The path to Olive Taylor's door is a canyon of decomposing junk, years' worth of packaging piled almost as tall as the 87-year-old herself.
It's little wonder, then, that these are the first ever pictures from inside the home of the Brighton hoarder - who used to be a housekeeper for the Royal Navy.
Inside, her semi-detached house is anything but ship shape, with bags of rubbish lining the stairs and a six-foot high wall of junk rendering the downstairs completely out of bounds.
 Stubborn: Hoarder Olive Taylor, 87, stands between walls of rotting rubbish outside her Brighton home
Old clothes, sweet tins and children's toys are piled almost to the ceiling.
Mrs Taylor has been told she has one month to get rid of a similar mountain of waste in her garden - or face eviction.
Brighton and Hove City Council slapped her with the order after neighbours complained about the piles of rotting fruit, food containers and newspapers outside her house.
But she claims her hoard is intended for recycling and she has raised more than £90,000 in scrap metal sales since 1978.
Taking her time: Mrs Taylor has turned her garden into a junkyard, earning eviction threats from the local council. She says the rubbish is intended for recycling and has made tens of thousands selling scrap metal
 Habit of a lifetime: Ex-housekeeper Mrs Taylor picks her way through a trench of plastic bags and packaging
Mrs Taylor gives the money to the charity Guide Dogs for the Blind.
In 1993, eight lorry loads of rubbish were removed from the front garden in Evelyn Terrace, and in 2003 she was also threatened with eviction.
But Mrs Taylor - who worked as a housekeeper at Ford Royal Naval Air Station in West Sussex during the war - has rejected offers of help from a neighbourhood scheme.
The single pensioner says there is no health hazard or sign of any vermin at her home.
She said: 'I intend to challenge the order. They can't interfere with my business.
'It's mostly cans and I have a system of recycling. But I can't get out when it is cold.'
 Piled high: A six-foot wall of rubbish has rendered the downstairs of Mrs Taylor's house out of bounds
 Standing her ground: Mrs Taylor, pictured outside her home, has refused offers of help to clean up the heaps
Squalid: The stairway to first floor of Olive Taylor's home is lined with plastic bags stuffed with rubbish
Vermin-free: The pensioner moves between walls of rubbish, which she says do not pose a health risk
By Lyle Brennan |
發表於 2012-3-19 01:20 PM
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發表於 2012-3-20 11:03 AM
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