IF little outbreaks of antisocial behaviour go unchallenged, whole areas can soon start to suffer.

It’s been called the “broken windows” theory, and it is illustrated by our story today about rubbish building up outside a block of flats in Boscombe.

It seems some bulky items, including a mattress and a fridge, were dumped there and before long were joined by all manner of festering rubbish.

What a shame that while the arguments go on about whose responsibility it is, this malodorous health hazard is undoing many people’s hard work at making the area nicer.